The first year of a baby’s life is one full of excitement and discovery: this is the message Ann Douglas conveys in her book Baby Science. Aiming her book at young observers – siblings between the ages of three and eight – Douglas describes the various developmental stages a baby goes through from birth to the first birthday. She discusses the physical traits of a baby’s body, eating and sleeping habits, hearing and sight, movement and play.

While the main text, which deals with changes in these areas, is solely descriptive, the uniquely designed sidebars alternate between interesting factual information and experiments or activities. The reader’s attention is captured not only by the circular shape and background colour of the sidebars but also by their bold font, subtitles, and illustrations.

In contrast, the font chosen by the designer for most of the text is not inviting for the independent reader. In addition, older readers probably require more information and more suggestions for scientific investigations or interactions with a baby to hold their interest. For example, in addition to telling the eight-year-old reader that “babies like to look at faces,” the reader could be encouraged to make different faces out of paper to see which kind babies like best. The younger reader will be attracted by the large colour photographs that illustrate each double spread. The photographs as well as the text can act as a good springboard for discussion with an adult.