Bookstart Touch books
Great books to share with children aged up to five who have a visual impairment. Many of these titles were selected by expert panels for the Bookstart Touch programme; others have been recommended by parents, teachers, children, the RNIB, ClearVision, and other specialists.
The books aim to stimulate the senses for children with a visual impairment. Features in the different titles include strong contrasting colours, embossing, braille, and meaningful touch-and-feel elements.
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The Very Busy Spider
Author: Eric Carle
Publisher: Puffin
Interest age: 3+
Reading age: 7+One morning in a farmyard a spider begins to spin a web. All the animals try to persuade her to stop but she doesn't answer any of them; she is too busy spinning her web.
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That’s Not My Chick
Author: Fiona Watt Illustrator: Rachel Wells
Publisher: Usborne
Interest age: 2-3
Reading age: 4+A fun touch and feel board book that encourages little fingers to explore the different shapes and textures on each page
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Little Fish and Friends
Author: Lucy Cousins
Publisher: Walker
Interest age: 2-3
A fabulous touch-and-feel board book with rhyming text and a traditional feel.
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Don’t Tickle the Crocodile
Author: Sam Taplin Illustrator: Ana Martin Larranaga
Publisher: Usborne
Interest age: 2-3
Tickle the various animals and listen out for their noisy response! This touch-and-feel book is sure to get little ones giggling.
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Hiss Roar Snap
Author: Christie Hainsby Illustrator: Stephanie Thannhauser
Publisher: Make Believe Ideas
Interest age: 2-3
Little ones can learn different animals sounds (and join in!) in this playful touch-and-feel book.
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Baby Touch: Playbook
Author: Ladybird Illustrator: Lemon Ribbon Studio
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Interest age: 2-3
A larger format board book that encourages little ones to play.
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Where’s My Puppy?
Author: Becky Davies Illustrator: Kate McLelland
Publisher: Little Tiger Press
Interest age: 2-3
This touch-and-feel board book takes a similar approach to the popular Usborne That’s Not My… series, with different textures and shapes for little fingers to explore on each page.
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Off to the Beach!
Author: Child's Play Illustrator: Cocoretto
Publisher: Child's Play International
Interest age: 0-4
Child's Play continue to build on their range of truly inclusive and accessible books with this sensory gem. Off to the Beach! takes us on a tactile trip to the seaside.
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Amazing Baby: Black and White
Author: Emma Dodd
Publisher: Templar Books
Interest age: 0-1
Turn the cut-out pages of this excellent black-and-white baby book and discover spotty frogs, stripy bees and even a sleepy teddy bear on pages filled with patterns, dots and stripes. A perfect first book with an easy rhyme that means baby can also get used to the sound of your voice.
