Timmy Time Touch and Feel [Hardcover]

This board book has a thick and durable cover and pages, but at the same time, it's not too big or heavy for small children to carry around. The textured parts of the book are properly glued in and safe for little ones. Overall I am very pleased with it and my 18 month old daughter loves it.

This is a nice book, my 9 month old son likes this book but it would be better if there were more fluffy things inside the book. The outside of the book has a sheep to feel and it would be nice if that was in the book too.

It's never too early to introduce babies to the world of books and I've been sharing books with four month old Freddy as part of his bedtime routine from a few days after he was born. Our favourite type of book to share is the touchy feely ones where we can not only look at the pictures and read the words but also explore different textures. Timmy Time Touch And Feel is a board book that we originally borrowed from the library, but loved so much that we bought our own copy.

So Who Is Timmy?

Timmy, himself, is a `little lamb with a lot to learn', a creation of Aardman, he's actually Shaun The Sheep's little brother and the star of his very own CBeebies programme (Timmy Time). In each short (10 minute) episode Timmy and his animal friends go to nursery school, have lots of fun and learn a very important moral lesson. The programme itself is great fun, very eye-catching and a firm favourite of Freddy's (Daddy that is).

It's Timmy Time

Timmy Time Touch And Feel is quite a large and heavy board book, measuring a good 6" square and as each page is plastic coated it's easy to wipe clean. The pictures are clear, bright and very true to the programme, it's an almost perfect transfer from TV screen to page. Although the story is simple, (basically Timmy just meets up with his friends), there are quite a few words on each double page which makes this a book for sharing rather than for a child to read on their own.

The front page features a really sweet picture of Timmy, looking very excited to meet your child, but what's even more special is that Timmy's tummy is soft just like lamb's wool. As we open the book each double page introduces us to one of Timmy's friends, with a simple question such as `Who has Timmy met in the classroom?', followed by a description and finally the name of the friend. Each description points to another touch and feel experience, there's Yabba's rubbery feet, Mitten's fluffy fur, Paxton's fuzzy trotters and Ruffy's soft, floppy ears. The final page sees all the friends getting together to play and it starting to rain shiny, smooth raindrops.
Freddy and Timmy

As I said this is one of the books I share with 4 month old Freddy at bedtime, so obviously I'm going to base most of my opinion around that experience (but I have shared the book with a friends 12 month old as well). After a bath and milk feed, Freddy and I settle down on my bed to share a book every night and his eyes light up when he sees this particular book. We always start with the front page, and to begin with I had to help him feel Timmy's fluffy tummy, but now his hand-eye coordination has improved he can feel it for himself. I always try and use words to explain what it is he's feeling such as soft, fluffy, smooth, rough, scratchy as this will help him express himself later when he learns to talk. As we go through the book I'll read the words on one side, before helping Freddy explore the textures on the opposite page (if he can't quite manage to find where he should be trying to touch). I also make lots animal noises as we go through the book, which is guaranteed to make my little man laugh. Each of the textures in the book is different and although he doesn't mind touching most of them, he's not keen on Paxton the pig's fuzzy (felt) hands and feet. As we get to the final page, the shiny raindrops reflect the bedside light and Freddy would much rather look at them than touch them.

Timmy The Teacher

As well as being a wonderful opportunity for me and Freddy to snuggle up together before bedtime, books can also help Freddy develop all important skills and this is no exception. At the moment Freddy is just learning to anticipate things happening and will smile as he realises that Mummy is going to be making funny noises and eventually he`ll be able to work out which animal makes which noise. The bright pictures in the book draw his attention and help to develop his visual skills, while the different textures not only give me a chance for to describe them but also help him practise his hand-eye coordination as he reaches for them. At the moment the actual words don't mean very much to Freddy but as he gets older he should be able to make the connection between what I say and the squiggles on the page.

Bye Bye Timmy

As I said at the beginning this is one of Freddy's favourite books and one I love to share with him. It's a good size for me to hold, but too big for Freddy and is therefore one we share rather than one he's allowed to play with on his own. The wipe clean pages mean that on the occasion when he's been sick on it, I've been able to clean it easily without it absorbing the milky mess. The different textures and simple storyline give plenty of opportunity for Freddy to develop new skills while he's still having fun and as he gets older there's still plenty more for him to learn. I've also shared this book with a year old baby, she loved it and spent ages touching all the different textures and pointing to the animals for me to make the noises. So this is a book I'm going to be sharing with Freddy for quite some time to come, hopefully for the next couple of years, at least. So I'm giving Timmy Time Touch And Feel an impressive five stars out of five, as it's a lovely tie-in that keeps to the spirit of the TV programme and is a lovely book to read to young babies upwards