Books with simple, black and white images with clean, bold lines are perfect for young babies. Black and white books for babies help to develop their optic nerves, encourage cognitive development, and so they’ll gradually learn about the world around them, without feeling over-stimulated. “Anything with very obvious contrast – such as black and white edges and lines is an optimal stimulant for the visual system. This type of stimulation basically gets the system up and running.” Professor Usha Goswami, Director of Centre of Neuroscience in Education, Cambridge University. So with a black and white baby book, snuggle up close, or sit your baby on your lap, and look at the black and white pictures together. Talk to your baby – tell them all about the pictures to help them understand what they’re seeing and even take their hand and point to things on the page and turn the page together.
