YOU ARE CORDIALLY invited to come and join the Junior team at The Baby Show, at Earls Court, London, from October 26–28, where we will be hosting a chic shopping emporium full of delightful goodies to satisfy all your needs, from gorgeous children

squidgy and have a built-in squeaker to amuse your baby and stimulate all five senses. The characters are Chan, his sister Pie and baby brother Gnon – and, when put together, they cleverly replicate the French word for mushroom (Chan Pie Gnon = champignon

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (Puffin, £5.99)Not many children’s books achieve worldwide sales that would humble a U2 album, but Eric Carle’s classic picture book about a caterpillar munching his way to becoming a beautiful butterfly has sold 22 million copies.Carle h...

 1.   He’s watching youFrom the moment your baby is born, you are under surveillance. Your baby will not be able to take his eyes off you; he will follow your every move, ‘tracking’ you as you move around your home. That’s because from the moment

just teaching your baby about letters or letter sounds. "Language underpins all literacy," says Jenni Renwick Smith, child psychologist. " Babies learn the language of books long before they learn to read." The emphasis should be on enjoyment of books

and again…) why not stop midway and see if you can recreate your own different ending.Wendy Cooling, children’s books guru and founder of Bookstart, the charity that championed free books for babies, shares some of her all-time favourite books, perfect

Whoever said that baby books need to be in bright primary colours obviously has never come across the gentler design aesthetics of Orla Kiely. The strong graphic design of this uber-tasteful tome features Kiely’s instantly recognised signature style

noisily come to life (beware: some babies might be startled by the lion’s roar), but how lovely to be able to play catch with the perfect puppy in the grand finale! There’s a fun matching pairs game, too, where your child can match pictures, or pictures

There's really no need to load yourself up with the following:Inflatable beach toys, buckets and spades – buy them when you get thereToo many nappies – dittoBananas – will go black and squishy on the planeToys with small parts – they’ll get lost under the seat and you'll end up i...

SunhatsSwim nappiesUV protection suits and fold-away UV tentInsect repellentUniversal bath plugAdaptorCamera and spare batteries/memory cardsBaby alarmRubber door-stopsRubber shoes for paddlingFolding booster seatFirst aid kit – Calpol (infant paracetamol) in sachets