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I'd personally stay away from videos--all the research is negative even for the "intellectual" videos.
As for books, in the beginning it's probably better to just pick books that you enjoy because it's more the cadence of your voice and your tone that your baby will listen to.
Once they're able to look at the pictures with you, help you turn pages, and be at least vaguely interested for more than 30 seconds, I find the best ones are with nice bright colors and clear pictures of items with simple names (apple, ball, car, doll, daddy, mommy, sun, bird, kite, etc) because they'll be more engaged if you point those things out than they will be with a story.
Dr. Seuss Alphabet will last a long time too
Body parts books are fun (though I'd stay away from flaps since they just rip)
I'd stay with very simple stories, like 4 words per page, chances are you won't be reading the story in order anyway :D
Once they're talking and more interested in stories you can stock up on the classics. Amazon has some great lists of classic and/or quality books for toddlers and up.
Personally from what I have read, babies should not even be introduced to videos/TV for at least the 1st year or more. As for books I agree with the PP pretty much for beginning all that matters is your voice. Then picture books that are hard cover. Babies/toddlers like to rip things.
My neice is 5 months and she loves when I pull up the care bears theme song on youtube :) We put the care bear movie and other disney princess movies on for my 3 year old neice and the baby would look up occasionally for a couple minutes at a time- pretty much just when there was music.
At the beginning, my daughter would listen to us read anything (although she didn't much like Walt Whitman, for whatever reason, lol). As she got older, board books were nice. They are sturdy and often have short story lines and large, simple pictures. Now that she's a toddler, anything interactive is right up her alley (lift-the-flap books, touch-and-feel books, Pat the Bunny, etc...).
Also, I'd recommend that cds might be a good alternative to buying dvds right now (a lot of kids won't be interested in tv until much later, anyway). The Rockabye Baby cds are really neat. Our daughter loves her toddler cds and sing-a-long cds, as well.
No screen time until 2 years of age... but we do a ton of books.
She loves anything by Gyo Fujikawa (Baby Animals, 10 Little Babies), anything by Eric Carle (especially Brown Bear and The Very Quiet Cricket and The Very Hungry Catepillar). Pat the Bunny is a classic as is Goodnight Moon (I hate that book!). She loves anything by Nancy Tillman (and her books can make you cry!)
We got her a lot of the books that I remember from childhood because they bring back great memories... So any books you remember from being little are good ones! My friend's baby shower theme was books and everyone brough their favorite classics. It was a really fun shower!
Ooh, I second Rock a Bye baby. Bob Marley and Radiohead are staples in our house... and Putamayo Kids lullabyes is an absolute life saver. Our daughter falls asleep to it every nap!
@BabyBoecksMom: for books: you must absolutely buy "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?" by Eric Carle. my kid loves the crap out of that book and can read it all day long.
videos: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on iTunes. (btw i once also said "no screen time" for my baby too...i guess i'm a bad mom :oP )
Another vote for Eric Carle (We have Brown Bear and Polar Bear, and while - at 5 months - DS isn't really super interested in books, he will actually kind of look at the pictures in these books for short periods)
We had friends also give us (and recommend) "Baby Colors" and "Baby Giggles," and I can see how kids would like them, but I freaking hate them.
We've just started actually reading kids books to him. DH used to read to him in his crib at bedtime, and would read aloud whatever scif-fi/fantasy novel he was currently in the middle of.
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This is my first child and I'm very inexperienced around kids. I'm trying to get add some books and videos for the nursery and/or registry and I want to know which ones you've had success with, and also the ones to avoid. Thanks!!