My daughter started walking at 10.5 months and we got her the Stride Rite walking shoes. She still, 4 months later, walks better in bare feet, but the Stride Rites are defintely the best of the shoes she has. She can walk more normally than she does in some of her others where she either trips or marches b/c of them. Stride Rite are recommended as the best first walking shoes and I have to agree.
I'd suggest not getting the cruiser shoes, though. They have the rubber wrap-around toe and my daughter would trip a lot b/c her toe would get stuck on wood or tile floors. That does not happen with the walker shoes.