We love apps for children, and we regularly defend them when grumps say things like “but kids shouldn’t be LOOKING AT SCREENS they should be RIDING BIKES and READING BOOKS”.

(The answer in those situations, if you’re wondering, is always: “YES, but doing those things and using apps aren’t mutually exclusive…”)

Anyway, we’re a little more unsure of ourselves when it comes to apps for babies. Not because we don’t see the appeal, but because we’re much hazier on the science of how the youngest children’s brains are developing, and what experts think is a sensible amount of screen-time (if any) for them.

With that in mind, our welcome for First Focus: Ladybird Baby Touch may not be quite as enthusiastic as the craft that’s clearly gone into it deserves. It’s the work of Penguin Books, based on its Baby Touch First Focus book.

The app, like the book, features bold illustrations to attract babies’ attention and stimulate their senses. Except this being an app, they are animated – a choice of four: patterns and shapes, animals, sea and vehicles – with music tootling away in the background and sound effects triggered by tapping the screen.

It’s certainly bold: lots of bright yellow, black and white imagery. Of course, you’ll want to be firmly in control of your device when the app is being used: the average baby will have a shiny iPhone in their mouth for a good old gnaw within seconds of your attention being distracted!

But yes, as we said earlier, we’re a bit unsure about apps for babies: when our own children were younger than one, we’d probably have opted for the Baby Touch book rather than the app.

But if you think differently, the latter looks very well done – and we’re sure Penguin wouldn’t have launched it if they weren’t confident that the app would benefit baby-brains rather than harm them. What do you think?

First Focus: Ladybird Baby Touch costs £1.99 for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, and £1.99 for Android from the Google Play store.

Read about more Ladybird apps for kids on Apps Playground, and check out our 100 Best iPad Apps of 2013 e-book – £1.99 from Apple’s iBooks Store