Understanding the Design Values of Baby Books: Materiality, Co-presence, and Remediation

In this article we analyze the design values of selected baby books published in England, the United States and Italy across 100 years. The examples we focus on are What is This? What is That? (1905) of the Dean’s Rag books series, Pat the Bunny (1940), I PRELIBRI (1980), and Wiggle! March! (2009) of the Indestructibles series. We group these books into two pairs of simple or complex designs, based on either a drive for durability or the aim to provide a multisensory experience: the Dean’s Rag books and the Indestructibles form one set, and Pat the Bunny and I PRELIBRI the second. We approach the books by examining the relationships among the materiality, narrative and formal design elements, the implied co-presence of a young child and adult care, issues of context and gender, and how the later examples remediate or rework the materials and beliefs of the earlier ones in a contemporary manner.