Photo Albums

• Use a small photo album or scrapbook to create a personal book for your baby. Add pictures of relatives, friends and pets, and label them with the name or title of the person pictured. Read the book to your baby at least once per day to familiarize him with all of the people who love him and will be in his life. You can also print these pictures on your home printer and then have the pages laminated before assembling them into a book. This way, the baby can touch, feel and explore his book without ruining the photos.
  
  This is particularly helpful for relatives, such as grandparents or parents, who live far away or are gone a lot due to business or leisure travel. For example, if the baby's father is in the military and won't get to see him for a few months, he can see daddy's face daily and connect the face to the name.
  
  

Three-Dimensional

• Use fabric, ribbons, zippers and other baby-safe items to create a homemade book. Use soft fabric with fabric pens to write your own book, and add batting to make the book soft and three-dimensional. For example, make an animal book with mommy and baby animals pictured on fabric. Add things such as cotton for a sheep's wool for texture. Adding pieces that your baby can touch and feel will amplify her learning process as you read to her each day.
  
  Purchase a sew-a-book kit that features a traditional nursery rhyme on fabric that you cut and sew. Follow the directions exactly or add your own embellishments with various small objects, such as those mentioned above, if they are secured properly and safe for your baby. Never use an object that would pose a choking hazard if it becomes disconnected from the book.
  
  

Plastic

• Use thick plastic sleeves that zip closed to create your handmade baby book. These sleeves can be found at most any craft store. Sew a few of them together, with the opening facing outward. Put pictures, labels or a story on small pieces of cardboard, then slide them into the plastic sleeves. You can change and update your pictures as often as you'd like, or as your baby grows so his book can keep up with his growth and changes. Using the plastic to house the pictures and story provides a quick, easy homemade book that's easy to clean when your baby drools, spits or otherwise soils the book.