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Board Book Reviews
1 2 3 Count With Me
Tiger Tales, illus. Georgie Birkett, pub. Little Tiger Press
Does your child know how to count or are you just getting ready to help them with understanding numbers? This charming board book with its flaps is the perfect introduction. It’s bright, bold and reserves a single page for each number to consolidate learning.
Each number has been formed into a grooved shape with directional arrows encouraging little fingers to trace the shape, reinforcing their understanding of each number. They can then be encouraged to identify the picture on the front of the flap before lifting it to find the surprise hidden underneath. A wonderful guide to numbers, a fun way for young children to interact with a book and plenty of fun to be had with flaps!
The A to Z of London
Nicola Edwards, illus. Tess Duffin, pub. Little Tiger
London is a busy place, something this little board book certainly helps young readers to see and begin to understand. It is also a place with so many things to see and do that the whole alphabet can be found among its wonders.
In this charming and innovative alphabet board book see London in a new light. Start off your exploration with some Afternoon Tea, the perfect treat for the busy experiences to come. These include, and of course are not limited to seeing Big Ben, the London Eye, the River Thames and even one of the famous red telephone boxes. Illustrated throughout in a very child-friendly and accessible style this is a wonderful introduction to the city.
Always Pasta
Eleni Tassopoulos Wehner, illus. Danamarie Hosler, pub. Barefoot Books
We’ve shared two Roscoe & Ivy books previously, now we are back with the latest two. Roscoe doesn’t understand why Ivy always wants to eat pasta, in every shape, including bowtie! It makes her tummy warm and safe whilst Roscoe loves to eat pizza which Ivy thinks is strange. She tries some, doesn’t like it and that’s okay, they each have their own likes.
Waiting can be hard; adults probably know this very well. Waiting rooms try. This one has one toy, an aquarium and a bag that could be full of treats but Roscoe finds waiting very hard and might be a little noisy too. That’s okay though, Ivy knows just what he needs – a story. Maybe waiting wasn’t so hard after all? Two more important learning journeys in book form.
The Waiting Room
Ask Me About: Farm
Ask Me About: Home
Rebecca Atkinson, illus. Susie Hammer, pub. Happy Yak
Have you visited a farm before? With this wonderful board book, and its built-in slider now you can do so from the comfort of home. Wake up with the call of the cockerel and count how many eggs have been laid, meet the farm dogs, lambs and cows before bedtime after a busy day. There are flaps to lift and questions to answer – it’s hours of fun!
At home there’s a visitor to greet, a kitchen to explore, a telly to watch and all-important bath time to enjoy before being tucked up into bed. Can you answer the door, guessing who might be behind it, guess what might be hiding in the bath and identify the smell coming from the kitchen? A wonderful opportunity for interactive discovery for little ones.
The Big Fish
Camilla Reid, illus. Kate Hindley, pub. Macmillan Children’s Books
The Big Fish is a delightful Nell & Beany adventure and finds the pair on a wonderful looking boat hoping they might catch some fish. If the detail on the cover is any clue there are a few creatures eagerly watching their progress too. With the wonderful sliders this continues!
This pair of friends might be looking for a big fish but the book itself is ideal for the littlest of readers, its sliders are subtle but the hours of fun they encourage are incredible. Each scene slides out to reveal more about the area in which our friends are fishing and perhaps a few clues as to what they might catch. Magical and marvellous!
Bunnies in a Boat
Philip Ardagh, illus. Ben Mantle, pub. Walker Books
If you have a young reader you may already have met these bunnies and know that they love to have the most unexpected and mad-cap adventures. Now they come to us in a handy board book for the youngest of readers and what a delight!
In Sunny Bay when the sun shines the animals all come out to play and what better way to have fun than splashing in the water with a boat? But whilst the text is telling us about all the fun they are having what is it you can see in the pictures – there is another story waiting there, to be told, to be used to embellish and children will have hours of fun doing so.
Dragons and Other Creatures of the Sky
Celeste Cortright, illus. Giulia Orecchia, pub. Barefoot Books
Dragons fly high in the sky, have you seen them? Make sure to look very hard as they like to make it tricky to spot them. But do you know there are other creatures who fly across the skies too? Do you think you might be able to identify them with the clues in this clever slide and see book?
Dragons has a companion book. Their partners in mystery are the mermaid rumoured to live beneath the waves. They are probably harder to spot than the dragons but the tales tell us they are there. Now you can try to spot them along with many of the other shiny, sparkly wonders living under the waves!
Mermaids and Other Creatures of the Sea
Guess Who? In the Desert
Owen Davy, pub. Flying Eye Books
Are you ready for a guessing game? This one has lots of interesting pictures to look at, all of which are clues as to what might be hiding under the flap. In the desert there are all sorts of wild and wonderful creatures, see if you can guess which ones are hiding and waiting to say hello… A delightfully playful book which will result in plenty of surprised giggles!
After a visit to the desert where it is certainly hot and probably quite unfamiliar there should be time to pay a visit to the forest. Once more there are plenty of clues to look at, on and under the flaps, before lifting the biggest one to meet whoever is hiding. Alongside discovering some of the animals living in the forest learn about the forest itself too.
Guess Who? In the Forest
Hello Dinosaurs
Fiz Osborne, illus. Kayt Bochenski, pub. Little Simon
It’s time for some exploration, there are some dinosaurs to find and can you see that first one – stomping through the trees? But what’s that? A flap to lift – what could possibly be underneath? Hopefully you believe in unicorns for there are some to say hello to. They are playful too so you’re certain to have a wonderful time with their book and the sliders!
This pair are among the first to be created by the new Little Simon imprint from Simon & Schuster and they have integrated sliders, wheels and flaps to encourage little ones to engage with the book whilst grown-ups read the simple but fun text. They are suitable for children aged 1 and above, promoting motor skills and delivering a fun experience with a book.
Hello Unicorns
My First Unicorn
illus. Melanie Mitchell, pub. Kelpies
Many people are certain that unicorns are mythical creatures but your little ones can prove them wrong with this unicorn shaped book, gently but brightly illustrated and filled with facts to discover about Star the unicorn.
As we follow the story we discover Star likes castles, and magic but not dogs or rain! Now that you know that what else do you think there might be to learn about unicorns and what might you be able to spot on each page? A charming companion book to My First Nessie and My First Shetland Pony little ones will delight in its wonder and be able to tell anyone who asks that unicorns are very real!
The Pigeon WON’T Say the ABC’s!
Mo Willems Workshop, pub. Union Square Kids
Alphabet books are aplenty I think we can all agree on that but there aren’t so many in board book format or which feature Mo Willems Pigeon. If you’ve not met this quirky character yet be assured he is very loveable and can be a little difficult. Does that sound familiar?
Pigeon doesn’t want to say his ABCs after all he has, achoo, a cold. Oops did he just accidentally start the alphabet off with that comment? Will he stop there or do you think he will surrender and repeat the alphabet. Engaging, very funny and a sneaky introduction to learning, to the alphabet and to reading all rolled into one this book is brilliant.
True or False? Colours.
pub. Priddy Books
It is up to you, with this pair of books, to make decisions about the facts that you are presented with. It could be a fruit, vegetable, animal or some other image you are looking at which is making a statement. You have to decide if it’s true or false and move the slider accordingly.
A very clever concept that will really get young minds working, young brains ticking and help them to understand the difference between true and false, learn how to use their describing words and learn to recognise some of the basics of colours and words. Silly, fun and filled with sliders and flaps, perfect for learning.
True or False? Words.