When Aby turned 1, I wanted to give her something special. So, I created a small quiet book for her. I wanted it to be simple, but also involve manipulation and textures for her to explore. What I came up with was an easy to fold book that my son also loves. Now they each have one quiet book to take along to church. They keep quite busy with these little books.

The book itself was quite simple to make. I used a pair of pants that I bought second hand, some other felt and cloth scraps I had on hand and a few buttons. I sewed most of it, but used a little bit of hot glue for the pocket on the back and for securing Aby’s name.

The cover is simple with a flower and Aby’s name.

The book opens up into one long panel, as you can see below. It folds over like a letter in 3 sections.

On the back of the book (behind the ocean scene) there’s a pocket where some of the fun movable pieces are kept.

For the first section, the section with flowers, I made a butterfly with jingle bells. The bells are purely for fun. Aby has fun shaking the butterfly and hearing the cheerful sound.  The butterfly can enjoy the flowers or hide in the grass.

In this same section, once she improves on her fine motor control, Aby will be able to remove the flowers and place them back on. This is great practice for learning to use buttons! For now, little Peanut is enjoying this feature.

The middle section is really quite simple, although I’d venture to say it’s Aby’s favorite. Hide and seek or peekaboo features for little ones are always fun. I used a broken bird pin that I had, of course I checked it for sharp edges first. The bright colors and novelty of a small metal piece intrigue Aby. I hide the bird and then she finds it.

Finally, the ocean section features seaweed, a star button and a few movable creatures: a turtle and two fish.

So, that’s Aby’s birthday quiet book! I had fun making it and hope you also enjoyed it.