Maternity nurse and nanny Hannah Lazenby conceived the idea with artcollector Yana Peel, the founder of the OUTSET Contemporary Art Fund,whose baby she was looking after at the time.
She had noticed how Ms Peel's newborn son would gaze intently at ablack-and-white artwork by Julian Opie, a video installation of a blackand white figure walking, and mentioned it to her.
Ms Lazenby said, 'It was a throwaway comment that turned into thisproject.'
The kind of high-contrast black-and-white images featured in the bookare something which researchers have found babies respond to from a fewweeks old.
Ms Lazenby, who has worked as a nanny and maternity nurse for 11 years,told Nursery World, 'For a long time I'd noticed that newborn babies areattracted to black-and- white, high contrast and also to strong primarycolours.'
After backing was secured from several artists who donated their workfor free, her idea was turned into the book Art for Baby.
It includes works from artists including Julian Opie, Bridget Riley,Patrick Caulfield, Keith Haring and Damien Hirst, which have beenspecifically chosen for maximum visual stimulation.
Art for Baby is published by Templar, priced 14.99, and 1.50 from each book sold goes to the NSPCC. The book also contains afrieze featuring the 12 images that can be put on a nursery wall.