The best books on the bookshelf
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Book club
The OHbaby! team want to take the hard work out of choosing the best books for your whole family. From children's books to parenting advice guides to pregnancy journals and beyond, we're reading and reviewing all of the titles we think are relevant, useful, and fun. Click on the links below to see some great titles.
Bookshelf
Bookshelf
Our picks of the best books to curl up with this winter to escape the mundane. Sing You Home Jodi Picoult, Allen & …
Encourage a love of reading: books for your two and three year olds
Books for babies and toddlers (0-2)
Baby Touch Animal Book
Baby Touch Animal Book, by Justine Smith (Ladybird, $16.95) This is one of the coolest baby board books I've ever seen, …
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Books to inspire little minds
Electronic devices can't hold a candle to the power of books to inspire to explore and to imagine. …
Latest books for little readers
Familiar favourites and new friends feature in the latest books for our littlest readers. …
Best books for story time
When it's time for a story, the best books are the ones loved by grown-ups and little people alike …
Little Kiwi author and illustrator Bob Darroch
Author and illustrator Bob Darroch, introduced his beloved kids' book character LIttle Kiwi in 2001. That first book, Little Kiwi is Scared of the Dark, has since been awarded the Storylines Gaelyn Gordon Award for a Much-loved Book. Little Kiwi …
Te Reo Books 2015
Rhyme & Reo: aeiou makes it easy to learn the vowel sounds used in te reo Māori. Each rhyme highlights a Māori vowel sound, using familiar English words to demonstrate the sound, along with helpful notes and tips. A helpful learning aid …
Latching On: 50 years of breastfeeding support – La Leche League in New Zealand 1964-2014
A fascinating new book about breastfeeding support has been launched in New Zealand. Latching On: 50 years of breastfeeding support – La Leche League in New Zealand 1964-2014 tells how, as breastfeeding rates plunged during the 1960s, a group of …
Te Reo books
We love the idea of having books in English and Te Reo it 's a natural way to introduce Te Reo into every day usage and they make great gifts for those kiwi kids overseas. Ko Wai E Huna Ana? is a funny, bright book that toddlers will love and a …
Extract from If Only They Told Me: Babies, Sex and a Cup of Tea
NZ-based Jacqueline Lockington and Natalie Cutler-Welsh (above) have turned a highly successful blog into a book (and e-book), offering real-life parenting tips amid much hilarity and fun. Here's an extract, from If Only They’d Told Me: Babies, …
Extract from NZ-born Angela Mollard's book, "The Smallest Things"
If you're struggling with how to make your home look pretty while raising a tribe of kids, read and take comfort in Angela Mollard's thoughts on what's important and what's not when it comes to home decorating. The New Zealand-born author has just …
Treasure trove of audio books online for kids
Have your kids been introduced to audio books yet? These are a great alternative to watching the television, plus you can play them in the car on long or short journeys. These days they are available on all sorts of formats, bet it your MP3 …
And now for the weather...
Kiwi children’s author Donovan Bixley comes up with a topical picture book for all ages that contains one crucial difference… Words, who needs ‘em? Not Donovan Bixley, who’s produced a book with no words at all (well, apart from “ding” “chugga” …
Pregnancy, birth, ha ha ha!
What’s so funny about babies? Kiwi comedian Jeremy Corbett comes up with a whole new set of jokes about fatherhood, baby bumps and delivery in his just-released book Which Way Up? (Penguin, $35). In true self-deprecatory style he makes the whole …
Top 20 books for preschoolers
You can't judge a book by it's cover so that's why it's good to learn from the experience of others about what books are likely to grab your preschooler's attention. A good book will be read over and over until the whole family can recite it by …
Five of our favourite NZ books
Five must-have story books for all kiwi kids' bookshelves. …
2012 NZ Post Children's Book Awards
What's exciting the judges in the NZ Post children's Book Awards this year? The finalists have been announced for the 2012 awards and they represent the best books published in New Zealand in the past year. In the picture book …
Top 100 Childrens Books of all time. As rated by OHbaby Members.
We asked OHbaby! members to tell us your favourite children's books ever. You responded in overwhelming numbers. Below is the definitive list - books you can be guaranteed will be read again and again in your house. Where does your favourite rank? …
Fit for living
Time is precious and leaving the house can be challenging, but never fear - exercise and motherhood can comfortably co-exist! These ideas may solve your fitness frustration. Preggi Bellies Training for Two offers pregnant women a safe workout …
Top 10 Children's Christmas Books
The OHbaby! team has scoured the bookstores and created our list of the top ten Christmas books to give your children to fill them with the joys of the season. Pukeko In A Ponga Tree Slinky Malinki's Christmas …
Keeping kids busy
"Mum, I'm bored -- there's nothing to do!" has to be one of the least favourite phrases to come out of your little one's mouth, especially when you know very well that there are heaps of activities to keep them entertained. Here are our best picks …
Cooking, food and nutrition
Generation X, Generation Y... It sometimes seems like our littlies are going to be known as the Fast Food Generation, since we are so busy that sitting down together for a family dinner is no longer the norm for …
Building strong families
Blended families, mixed families, stepfamilies, single-parent families, traditional families, grandparents raising grandkids... There are many different configurations of families in our world today, but they all have the same …
Parenting older kids
Having a baby may be life-changing, but once you get through the Terrible Twos and kindy years, you'll feel like you need a whole different set of tips and tricks to cope with the changes that Parenting Older Kids can bring. Here's a selection …
Parenting babies and toddlers
Whether you're a first-time mum trying to navigate the overwhelming variety of advice on the "best" way to handle your baby's early years, or you've got a few kids already but you need a refresher course on the new information that's out …
For the dads
Dads often complain that all of the pregnancy and parenting books out there seem to be aimed at women rather than at them. There are some daddy-friendly baby books at the bookstores and in the library -- you just need to know where to look! …
Twins and multiple births
There's a rumour floating around that the best part of being pregnant with twins is that you get two babies from only one lot of morning sickness, back pain, sciatica, symphysis pubis dysfunction, sleepless nights, heartburn, and restless leg …
Motherhood and women's interests
"Becoming a mother changes your life." All mums know the truth of that statement, but it usually doesn't sink in until a couple of weeks after you get home from hospital. The flowers are dead, the visitors have stopped showing up …
Miscarriage and Baby Loss
Up to one in five pregnancies ends in miscarriage, yet for many, the loss of a pregnancy is isolating and lonely. A still birth can also be extremely traumatic, and many women have a difficult time coping or knowing how to deal with …
Pregnancy and birth
Pregnancy is a strange and magical time. While you may have a mental picture of a serene, smiling pregnant woman gently caressing her blooming belly as she stands next to a designer cot in a perfectly coordinated nursery, the reality is, …
Fertility and pregnancy planning
The decision to have a baby is a momentous one, and for many women, it's not all about simply "trying". Charting ovulation, knowing your fertile times and the best time to have sex, eating the optimum diet to create a healthy environment …
Books for kids (4 and up)
Preschoolers are starting to appreciate the story as well as the pictures and some of these stories, such as the Maui legends, can involve large concepts and ideas. Be prepared for lots of questions - it's all part of the learning. By now your …
Dr Suesss on the loose
The master of quirky rhymes and fantastic illustrations lives on. It's 75 years since Dr Seuss published his first book and since then a whopping 600 million copies have been sold worldwide - not bad for a guy voted least likely to succeed at his …
Dr Seuss Favourites
Dr Seuss has for many years been a giant in the world of children's fiction - so much so that in the US, teachers, parents and children mark his birthday on March 2 with a range of special events. Read Across America encourages school and community …
Lauren Child - Charlie and Lola
Like Charlie, Lola and Clarice Bean, their creator, Lauren Child, is funny, whimsical and completely original. The irrepressible Lola was inspired by a sweet little girl Lauren Child saw once on a train in Denmark. That explains why, in Lauren's …
The Gruffalo illustrator
I've created a monster! When it comes to celebrated children's books you don't get much bigger than The Gruffalo but its illustrator Axel Scheffer is a reluctant star. Famed children's book illustrator Axel Scheffer has mixed feelings about being …
20 minutes with Diana Gabaldon
Simonne Walmsley sat down with bestselling author of the Cross Stitch series Diana Gabaldon to talk about the latest instalment, An Echo in the Bone. It's quite a big ask, when meeting someone as extraordinary as Diana Gabaldon, not to think about …
Oliver Jeffers - Children's Author
Children's author Oliver Jeffers on recycling, his Irish family and working with dead people. Oliver Jeffers (pictured above) is an arty lad from Ireland, who quite literally finds inspiration for his picture books on the streets of his adopted …
Giles Andreae - Author of Giraffes Can't Dance
Chatting with the affable Giles Andreae whose middle name is "success". The man who gave us such classics as Giraffes Can't Danceand Rumble in the Junglemust be well on his way to becoming a gazillionaire by now. As well as a celebrated children's …
Raise a Book Lover - Tips & Ideas
As adults, we know the pleasure of diving into a good book or even taking a few moments to get lost in a glossy magazine. So, as parents, we’d love our children to experience the same simple joys. Once you become a parent you can expect a little …
Top 50 picture books
“No entertainment is so cheap as reading, nor any pleasure so lasting. She will not want new fashions nor regret the loss of expensive diversions or variety of company if she can be amused with an author in her closet.” — Lady Montagu, providing …