Just what is a board book? Board books are books for babies and toddlers. Rather than being printed on paper, they’re manufactured of thick, glossy cardboard, so that tiny hands can’t tear the pages as they help you to read. The stories are usually short and appropriate for toddlers, with many pictures. Even if your baby isn’t ready for the story yet, sitting down every evening with a book is a great way to wind down before bedtime. Looking at the pictures and talking about them to your baby helps him or her to develop language and to begin a long, happy relationship with books. Even if all the “reading” involved is you saying, “Look, that’s a dog. Woof! Woof! And there’s a cat. What does a cat say? Mew!” the book is opening up a new world for Baby. Sometimes regular picture books are published in special board book editions, too. A few of Ook’s favourite board books in our library are George and the Dragon, by Chris Wormell, the story of a dragon, a kidnapped princess, and a mouse who just wants to borrow some sugar, Al Perkins’ bouncy rhyming book for babies Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb, and Rosemary Wells’ lovely Read to your Bunny, also written in verse. All of these are great stories to share with your pre-schooler, for both the words and the art.