One of the few things I knew about babies before I had one was that they are drawn to contrasty, black and white images. I knew my niece, nephew and cousins had lots of black and white toys when they were babies. However, I was registering for baby gifts during my pregnancy, though, I found there were very few products being sold that were black and white. I guess it was the trend ten or so years ago and now it’s not. That’s why I was excited to discover Wee Gallery’s baby art cards.
Hand drawn by Surya Sajnani, mother of two and graphic designer, the animal-based art cards are a great way to stimulate baby’s visual senses and teach them about animals. Surya and her husband/business partner Dave gave Anya the Original, Sea, and Farm sets of the 5×7 cards last year and she LOVED them. She loved to look at the cards, while we told her the animals’ names and what sounds they made. She soon began mimicking the sounds- “mow” for cats, “mmm” for cows, and “baa” for sheep. Since then, they have introduced three more sets of the cards- Garden, Dino, and Jungle, which has won the National Parenting Center’s 2007 Seal of Approval. (The Farm set won an iParenting Media Award.) The rounded corners made them safe for babies to handle, plus they are printed with non-toxic inks on sturdy high quality art card stock. I love the use of chunky and narrow lines, swirls, and lines to create the animals. They are very modern but also reminiscent of native folk art, of which, I guess, they are, especially since Surya’s designs are definitely influenced by her East Indian heritage.

You can turn the cards into a mobile using one of the photo mobiles they sell or frame them and hang them on the nursery or playroom wall. Their newest lines include wall decor. The wall graphics are self-adhesive (and non-wall damaging) sticker versions of their cards with colorful elements like swirls, trees, grass, plants, and dots to complement the images. The wrapped canvas wall hangings are 9×12 coordinating tryptichs- sets of three canvases printed with uv-resistant inks (so they don’t fade over time). They are available in five sets: Savannah, Undersea, Farmyard, Garden, and Jungle. The images are the same animals featured on the art cards, but with accented colorful backgrounds.

If you or your child is a fan of the designs, you can even now purchase individual screen printed note cards in three design sets (Original, Farm, and Sea), plus letter pressed congratulations greeting cards featuring a peacock.

If you’re looking for a unique gift for a new baby, I highly recommend bundling a few sets of the cards, a mobile, and one of their infant onesies (available through Cafe Press). They also sell 25″x35″ and 11″x17″ posters and different notecards via Cafe Press.