Have you ever wondered why so many infant toys are black and white, instead of the rainbow and pastel colours we often associate with babies?
In this post we will look at the benefits of high contrast books and toys, and help you to choose the black and white books newborns love!
And without further ado, let’s get to the books!
Best Black And White Books For Your Newborn
(They aren’t listed in any particular order.)
Hello Baby Animals
This super safe and friendly baby’s black and white book is a prominent bestseller with the leading online retailers, where it has been met with outstanding customer ratings and reviews, having earned a full 5-star rating on Amazon, even after well over 4,000 individual ratings.
The book features very high contrast images that are very easy for the baby to make out. The 10 pages feature a cheerful white cartoon image of a friendly animal on a black background, together with a friendly greeting to that animal.
These images are printed onto non-toxic sturdy boards. These boards have safe, rounded edges that won’t cause injury to the baby. What’s more, the thick boards are easier for small hands to grip, compared to paper pages.
The book is very entertaining, and as you read the greetings on each page and point at the animal, this is a great way to interact with your baby and help them become more familiar with the sound of your voice pronouncing the greetings.
Hello Baby Animals
A High Contrast Board Book By Roger Priddy
this beautifully illustrated book from Roger Priddy will captivate babies’ attention and stimulate their developing sight
- Suitable from birth to 3 years
- 16 exciting high contrast board pages
- Learn about animals
- Part of a best selling series of baby books
Black & White Board Book
This is a book that’s been selling in its thousands, and even after well over 10,000 individual customer ratings on Amazon, it has still earned an average customer rating of a full 5 stars.
It is an accordion style book, with a total of 14 different panels. Some panels feature white images against a black background, while other panels feature contrast black and white images against a white background. Thus, the images really stand out and are very easy for the baby to see.
The images are of lots of different everyday things, such as foods, flowers, keys, leaves, cutlery, butterflies, cats, chairs, milk bottles, birds, and more.
This fold out book is made with stiff boards, which helps to make it sturdy enough to stand up unaided. And this is perfect for tummy-time, especially if you want to encourage the baby to raise their head and strengthen their neck.
And if the baby wants to reach out and grab this book, the edges of the accordion book can be quite easy for them to grab hold of.
Black and White Board Book
A High Contrast Book for Newborns by Tana Hoban
Adored by parents, teachers, librarians and readers, this accordion style book features high contrast images to captivate little ones.
- This 16 page board book is strong enough to stand alone
- Black and white images to promote visual development
- Suitable from birth
- Perfectly sized for little hands
KaPing My First Black and White Soft Book
Here we have another accordion style black and white book for the baby, but this time the book is soft, made with cloth, not like board books which can be hard.
What’s more, if your little one isn’t keen on bath time, they can even take this book into the bath to distract them, without having to worry about damaging it.
The images are very crisp and clear, black and white pictures they feature cute characters and interesting geometric patterns as well.
Moreover, it has also earned the titles of Amazon’s Choice in the category of “black and white board books for babies”. Such a title is only awarded to products that are both of excellent quality and also available at a good, reasonable price.
KaPing My First Black & White Book
Black and White cloth book by KaPing
Perfect for tummy time, this high contrast soft book is safe for babies to mouth .
- Ideal for babies aged 0-6 months
- Soft and safe for tummy time
- High contrast images to capture baby’s attention
- Accordion style, perfect for little hands
Hello, Garden Bugs
Like the Hello, Baby Animals we described earlier, this playful book introduces the baby to ten cheerful cartoon garden bugs, including ladybugs, snails and butterflies.
They are presented in high contrast black and white, against a jet black background, and they provide the perfect high-contrast experience for developing a newborn’s vision.
These bold images are paired with friendly text and some bold, basic patterns, and images such as flowers.
As you turn the pages and look at the book with the baby, you can talk about what is shown in the images and point out all the different things to see, the baby will follow your finger and listen to your voice, and even come to associate the sounds with the pictures as they grow and learn.
Again, these images are printed onto non-toxic sturdy boards. These boards have safe, rounded edges that won’t cause injury to the baby. What’s more, the thick boards are easier for small hands to grip, compared to paper pages.
Hello, Garden Bugs
Bold Board Book by Duopress Labs
A charming book with bold black and white images and text about 10 garden bugs
- Suitable for 0-2 years
- Teach your little one all about bugs!
- High Contrast for visual development
- Part of a popular series of books which promote speech and language skills
Sassy Peek-a-Boo Activity Book
Here we have another great, bestselling black and white, high-contrast book for both newborns and older babies.
Again, it has been met with excellent customer ratings and reviews. On Amazon, for example, it has an impressive full 5-star average customer rating even after well over 7,000 individual ratings.
The great thing about this particular black and white back is that it comes complete with a handy link so that you can attach it to the bars on a stroller, car seat, hanging mobiles, and more.
The high contrast images are really attention grabbing, perfect for newly developing vision.
What’s more, it’s a peek-a-boo book, and as well as the pretty geometric patterns, there are hidden pictures of cute creatures. You and/or the baby can lift the flaps to see the animals peek-a-boo style.
There’s even text that you can read out, and you can also describe the patterns to the baby.
And that’s not all. Rather than being made of stiff board, the pages of this book are much softer, and when you or the baby tries to grip the pages, they make an audible crinkle sound, to further stimulate the baby’s hearing and develop their listening skills.
It can also come in handy to read with the baby as they grow older, because in addition to the predominantly black and white pages, there are also flashes of color, so you can discuss the colors featured and what they are called.
Sassy Peek-a-Boo Activity Book
Soft Cloth, On the Go high contrast Book
The attachable link on this cloth book makes it the perfect stroller toy
- Perfect book from birth, with striking bold images
- With crinkle pages for auditory stimulation
- Attaches to the car seat or stroller for on the go fun
- Suitable for mouthing
A Newborn’s Vision
Did you know a newborn’s vision is very different from ours?
When they are first born, babies aren’t ready to see different colors. When they do see anything colored, baby’s vision is blurred, and they cannot distinguish one color from another.
And despite bold, primary colors being known for how much more attractive and engaging for young children, newborns are different, and they prefer bolder, easily distinguished and contrasting images in black and white, black and white shapes and to a lesser extent, grays.
In high contrast books, the bold images stand out, aiding in baby’s vision development. Such visual stimuli trains the newborns eyes amidst a typically blurry world. High Contrast Flash cards are a great idea for older babies.
For this reason, high contrast black and white books are a great baby shower gift for newborns.
Black And White Books Are Best For Stimulating Your Newborn’s Vision
Little books with contrasting black and white images are perfect for newborn babies. And especially if there are easily identifiable geometric shapes, as opposed to photos which are harder young babies to recognize.
So despite the tendency to associate babies with mild pastel colors, and having their rooms decorated in such colors, and dressing them in these colors, such designs are unlikely to hold the newborn’s attention.
But being a newborn does not have to mean that they have to wait months before they can stimulate and engage their vision and other senses.
One of the most useful ways to engage in an activity with a newborn to develop their visual ability is to sit with them and show them a favorite black- and white book that’s aimed at newborns.
As you turn the pages for them, you can use your speech to talk about the book and the images. They won’t understand a word, but it’s still good for them.
How A Black And White Book Is Good For Your Newborn
As the newborn sees the black and white book with its bold lines and patterns and highly contrasting images, this helps the newborn baby to train their visual focus, in a way that a colored book would simply fail to do.
So, not only does such a black and white book stimulate their vision, but it also boosts their concentration skills at the same time.
Coming Up: Black and White Books Newborns Love, How Bold Patterns Help Your Baby’s Vision and More
In this article, we’ll be discussing some of the best black and white baby books out there for newborns, and provide links to them on Amazon, so you can check them out for yourself.
Answers To Your Most Frequently Asked Questions
What Type Of Books Are Most Appropriate For A Newborn?
The more strongly the images contrast, the easier it will be for the newborn to see.
You also need to consider grip and safety. Small babies can’t turn the pages of a paper book because all of the pages are too thin. So you should look for board books or soft books. If you go for a board book, please ensure that it doesn’t have sharp corners.
Other popular titles include: “Baby Dream” by Sunny Scribens and “Look, Look” by Peter Linenthal.
When Can I Start Using Black And White Books With My Baby?
The great thing about these black and white top books for newborns is that you can start with them right away. You will have to support the baby’s head at first, but when they can hold their head up unaided, then you can use the books for tummy time, where they lie on their bellies.
Start out with back and white baby books with simple images in high contrast, before moving on to more complex books with baby animals, stories, etc.
You can also move on to high contrast black and white toys, your baby will absolutely love them- aside from the benefits to baby’s eyesight, they might even make your baby baby practice crawling towards them during tummy time!
Can You Recommend any Other High Contrast Toys for My Baby?
There are lots of baby toys available in high contrast colors, including flash cards, high contrast play mats, tummy time toys and more.
Toys that feature baby animals , black and white numbers and letters and mirrors are particularly popular.
Conclusion and final thoughts 💭
If you are looking for a thoughtful baby shower gift, or an educational toy that can be thrown in the diaper bag for your own newborn, a high contrast black and white baby book is a great option.
Not only will this encourage your baby’s visual development, it promotes a love of books from a young age, helping your little one in learning, attention and speech and language skills as they grow.
