Bhorta Bhorta Baby!
Jumana Rahman and Maryam Huq
Bok Bok Books


Jumana Rahman’s sweet , or rather savoury, debut board book introduces little ones to a favourite Bengali dish.
A baby sits in a high chair watching an adult dropping chopped potato into a cooking pot on the stove – the first task when making the dish. This is followed by the chop chop chopping of chillies which induces a coughing fit in the child. Next onions are sliced and dropped into a frying pan; this brings tears to the baby’s eyes. Turn the page and the infant’s hands are mashing and squishing in a mixing bowl; then in go oil and salt

as the little one’s tummy rumbles in anticipation. A taste soon comes as the adult whom we never fully see, pops a small piece into the little one’s mouth. Even teddy gets a taste of the treat. Yum, yum aloo bhorta is delicious.


With fun sounds to copy and Maryam Huq’s illustrations that include some details of Bangladeshi culture – books, a stool, poster on the wall, label on the oil bottle – this is a book to share at homes and in nurseries. To complete the experience, why not try making aloo bhorta with little ones.



Pip and Posy At Christmas
Axel Scheffler
Nosy Crow

Pals Posy and Pip are enjoying a game of hide and seek in the snow and it’s Pip’s turn to hide. Has he hidden himself behind a tree, a hill, the house, a fence perhaps? No, Posy will need to go back indoors to find the whereabouts of his best friend.


Little humans will love lifting the felt flaps to help Posy in her search: I suggest they snuggle up with an adult before they start. That will ensure they’re not too shivery to enjoy the fun details in Axel Scheffler’s snowy scenes.

Peekaboo Santa
Camilla Reid and Ingela P. Arrhenius
Nosy Crow

Peekaboo Santa is essentially a rhyming game with a Christmassy theme and sliders for little fingers to manipulate. So doing will reveal in turn, a pair of birds, a star atop a Christmas tree, an elf, Santa on a sleigh, a candle flame, a playful mouse, a surprise present, children anticipating Santa’s coming and finally, a mirror. With its bright colour palette and festive images , this is just right for the very youngest.

Noisy Dinosaur
Lauren Crisp and Thomas Elliott
Little Tiger


Little ones will encounter, not just the little dinosaur responsible (with their help) for the stomping, roaring and other sounds in this book, but a number of other prehistoric creatures too. There’s Triceratops, Diplodocus, Stegosaurus, Ankylosaurus and Tyrannosaurus to name just some, as well as a tiny hatchling hiding in plain sight on every spread, waiting for keen-eyed little humans to find it.


A fun book for sharing and as an adult or older sibling reads, said little humans following the story will love pressing the main protagonist’s squishy buttons and in so doing, will be developing their own fine motor skills and powers of observation.