What makes a great baby book? All a question of personal taste, but with his astute perception of experience and development, Xavier Deneux gets a roaring reception in our house for his 'Touch, Think, Learn' series.
When I first started Smallprint, I found baby books some of the hardest to research because young babies are all about sensory discovery and how do you convey touch through a computer screen!? I knew which I didn't like but it was hard to see what was really special, what ticked the boxes for function as well as beauty. Smallprint is all about unique, smile-enducing gifts so our baby books need to go the extra mile and be unexpected.
What looked a little flat on the screen turned out to be the most stunning collection of baby books and I can't shout about them highly enough. Xavier Deneux's collection of board books oozes touchy feely appeal with die-cut pages creating wonderful 3D effects. Granted there is no great abundance of texture, but the world around us is full of rough, smooth, crunchy and sandy bits that should be part of life's learning tapestry.
These books are incredibly tactile and uncomplicated, they are big and chunky and solid, they won't wilt when gummed into submission. Featuring brilliant design, bold colours, shapes to trace and simple concepts they are the perfect way to introduce little hands to books. When he said 'To touch is to experience, to experience is to learn', Xavier Deneux was not wrong!
Consistently putting a smile on our faces, these beautiful books deserve a plug and we hope that our review and photography does justice to the intricate work involved in producing them. Choose from Numbers, Shapes and Opposites, all available online now priced at £9.99.
