Aussie baby animals by Julia Murray illus.

This board book using just two colours (black and white) is designed with new borns in mind. They have not yet developed their eyesight and so this book allows them to see the two basic colours, while helping along their cognitive abilities and encouraging their gross motor skills.

In Aussie baby animals we find a range of Australian animals, including a wombat, kangaroo, emu, koala and kookaburra. Each double page reveals the animal and its offspring in a loving, intimate moment, while using words which show their affiliation with each other. So an emu says, 'peck, peck, peck', a kangaroo says 'kiss, kiss, kiss' while a echidna says 'tickle, tickle, tickle', all words that describe what is happening between the animals and using repetition to engage the listener.

The two colours make the illustrations easy to see, and younger children will delight in seeing the outlines of these animals and their offspring. The love between adult and child is reiterated on every page both in the text and image presented.

All the while younger children are introduced to Australian animals, given a chance to see animals and their offspring, develop some skills and learn to love books and reading with an older sibling or adult.

Themes: Australian animals, Environment, Offspring, Babies, Perception.

Fran Knight