The Best Usborne Books for 6-Month-Old Babies

Around six months, babies are soaking up the world through sound, rhythm, contrast, and touch, usually in short, wriggly bursts. The best books at this stage aren’t about following a long plot (yet). They’re the ones that make it easy for you to share tiny, repeatable moments: a familiar rhyme, a slider to move again and again, a texture to explore together, or a soothing bedtime pattern.

Below are some wonderful Usborne picks that work especially well for 6-month-olds.

For cozy, calming routines (especially bedtime)

If you’re starting to shape a predictable wind-down, gentle, repetitive books can become comforting cues.

Goodnight, I Love You is a lovely bedtime choice, with a soothing rhythm that’s easy to repeat night after night. For more sweet, reassuring “you can help” moments, the There There Little… touchy-feely books are ideal for quiet time: There There Little Bear, There There Little Kitten, and There There Little Bunny.

For singing, giggles, and early language

Six-month-olds are brilliant pattern-spotters. They may not be talking, but they’re already tuning into rhythm, repetition, and familiar sounds, which is exactly what nursery rhymes are made of.

Sing-along Nursery Rhymes is perfect when you want something you can do together on autopilot: press, listen, sing, repeat. Try choosing just one rhyme to repeat every day for a week. Babies often begin to anticipate the “big moment” (a pause, a change in pitch, a funny action), which is a wonderful early step toward communication.

For sensory learning

At six months, babies want to pat, rub, grab and bite the corners of books. Sensory titles help turn all that curiosity into shared attention.

The Don’t Tickle… touchy-feely sound books are hard to beat for quick, joyful reads: Don’t Tickle the Dolphin!, Don’t Tickle the Puppy!, Don’t Tickle the Rhino!, Don’t Tickle the Cow!, Don’t Tickle the Shark!, and Don’t Tickle the Gorilla!. They’re also a gentle way to practice taking turns: you touch the patch, you pause, you react together.

For little hands

Books that include a simple action can hold a baby’s attention for longer, and give you an easy way to slow down and talk about what you see.

The Slide and See books are ideal at this stage: Slide and See Farm, Slide and See Zoo, and Slide and See Dinosaurs invite babies to focus on one movement at a time. 

If your baby loves cause-and-effect, try Slider Sound Books: Moo!. Simply move a slider, see a surprise, hear a sound, and (of course) do it all again.

For car seats and on-the-go moments

Some books earn their place simply by fitting into real life.

Bathtime for Baby Bears is a sweet way to turn pre-bath wriggles into a shared story moment. And for busy days out, Slider Sound Books: Vroom! is great for short bursts of looking, listening, and chatting about vehicles.

For a classic touch-and-feel option that’s especially fun if your baby loves vehicles, That’s Not My Digger… and That’s Not My Tractor… are sturdy, tactile, and easy to dip into.

For baby-friendly classical listening

If you’d like something a little calmer (but still engaging), musical sound books can be a lovely part of quiet play, especially when you want to slow the pace down.

Try The Four Seasons (music by Vivaldi), or follow the animals in The Animal Orchestra Plays Bach and The Animal Orchestra Plays Beethoven.

If you’d like a simple “baby book rhythm,” pick one calming bedtime book (like Goodnight, I Love You) and one interactive daytime book (like Don’t Tickle the Puppy! or Slide and See Farm), then repeat them for a couple of weeks. Familiarity is where the magic happens at six months.