Review by New York Times Review
I have two toddlers at home. And the littler, at 18 months, is finally eager to sit through a book, or seven, if they engage her. She climbs up next to me on the couch while I drink my morning coffee, pointing and shouting, "Book, book, book!" Or, if I'm already holding one and haven't started quickly enough, she'll shout: "Read! Read! " My 3-year-old is captivated by surprising or funny-sounding words, and already appreciates some of my favorite books from childhood (I have, naturally, read him nearly all of William Steig, to me the undisputed master of children's literature), as well as many newer picture books with good stories. But when both kids are on my lap, the chunkier board books, with fewer words and a smaller format, are best. I've learned to perform, as the added theatricality both pleases my son's desire for wordplay and sonic delight and helps keep my daughter's attention. These new board books find ways to break down the barriers between little listeners and the books themselves, helping parents like me put on a successful story time show. "YOU can read this book in the bath," begins HUG THIS BOOK! (PHAIDON, 30 PP., $9.95; ages ? to 4), written by Barney Saltzberg and illustrated by Fred Benaglia. This one started out as a bigger picture book, but the new board book version is a clear winner, inviting touch and placing the youngest readers right in the middle of the action, in a familiar location. Later, they are told, "If you read this book being tickled, I dare you not to laugh." Stimulated from awareness to empathic interest, my kids were enraptured, aware the book was talking about itself, directly to them. "You can kiss and hug and smell this book" elicited tiny smooching sounds from my daughter, while my son leaned in close and sniffed it. The sketchy, energetic illustrations in a limited but bright palette charmed us all. As if more proof was needed that the kids and this book were on the same wavelength, my son asked me to read it again even before we got to the last page: "Even though this book is over, it isn't really the end. You can start at the beginning and read it to a friend." you know those books you carefully move to the bottom of the stack because you can't stand to read them one more time? Well, animal shapes (little bee, 40 pp., $n.99; ages ? to 4), written and illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal, is the opposite kind of book: so surprising and pleasing to an adult repeat reader like me that I even found myself suggesting it to the kids. With saturated colors and clean design, the book is a hilarious smooshing together of the two things in the title. (Another smooshing-together book by Neal, "Animal Colors," was published at the same time, so a series may be in the making.) "When a soaring bird meets a triangle, they become a fly-angle," one example reads, illustrated by a red bird from above, flying through the sky as an equilateral triangle. And while the book is educational, technically, introducing kids to shapes from a simple square to a nonagon, the lesson is beside the point. The mash-up is simply fun to see, and to say. "When jumbled giraffes meet a rectangle, they become a neck-tangle." My kids couldn't identify each shape, but they got the humor, repeating "neck-tangle" and laughing. as A story lover by trade and inclination, I'm not much of a fan of wordless picture books. A PILE OF LEAVES (PHAIDON, 24 PP., $18.95; AGES 0 to 4), by Jason Fulford and Tamara Shopsin, is an exception, and not just because it actually begins with a page of words: "A pile of leaves is like a collage. Each layer adds something new and hides something underneath." After that comes a twist: see-through pages that let you peer through a transparent window inside a colored frame. Each surprisingly sturdy plastic page shows a layer: a leaf or two, an acorn, ants and a leaf, a grasshopper and two leaves. Then, under that top layer are lost objects - a mitten, a key - the kinds of things that might be misplaced during a romp through a pile of leaves. My kids and I paged through the book once, silently. Then we started over and talked through it, discussing leaves and piles and missing objects, "ft's like digging through a toy basket for a missing piece," my son said. THE MY FIRST PULL-TAB FAIRY TALES (AUZOU, 10 PP. EACH, $10.99 EACH; AGES ??? 6) series, illustrated by Marion Cocklico, doesn't offer innovative twists on the original tales, but it does provide a great, simplified, engaging way to introduce young kids to some classics, including "Pinocchio," "Little Red Riding Hood" and "Goldilocks and the Three Bears." The design is genius - pages sturdy enough to withstand thousands of pushes and pulls from tiny hands, with pull-tabs built into each page to avoid those dangling tags or folds of paper that rip or stop functioning almost immediately. The "Goldilocks" volume is cleverly designed with ways for small fingers to pull, push and slide Goldilocks through her adventurous intrusion inside the bears' house. On my favorite page, Goldi is asleep in the bed that was just right, until you pull the tab and she awakens to the intense stares of the three bears with hands on their hips, standing in the doorway. My daughter's favorite? The front door she could slide open to reveal a cat - again, and again, and again. I was skeptical when I initially opened the box that contains house; first word BOARD BOOKS (CHRONICLE, 12 PP., $18.99; ages ? to 3), written and illustrated by Michael Slack, a set of five books nestled together. I loved the groovy 1960s look of the cover, but I worried it would be all gimmick, no charm. Yet as soon as I lifted the lid, the kids dived in, prying out the small books, each named for a different room in the house. As they opened them, they "read" them out loud, naming the objects they saw: "Sofa! Computer! Window!" in the living room book. My son selected the garage book and shouted: "Car! Recycling! VACUUM CLEANER!" (He has a passion for vacuums, so this was a true highlight.) Both kids grinned with the pleasure of reading their perfectly sized books to me, rather than the reverse, pointing to objects and identifying them. It's the ideal kind of kid-design, smartly conceived to appeal to and engage little readers, and requiring no explanation or instructions. That night my daughter carried several of the smallest books in the set with her to bed - well, who else could they have been meant for? caitlin roper is the editorial director ofNYTMag Labs.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [January 31, 2019]
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
The husband-and-wife team behind These Colors Are Bananas add to their oeuvre of high design primers with this novelty board book created in collaboration with the Whitney Museum of American Art. Transparent acetate pages display crisp, colorful leaves; by turning the pages, readers see the leaf pile grow on the left and diminish on the right. Hiding among the red, green, orange, and yellow foliage are additional objects: red ants, an orange acorn, a green grasshopper, and an orange mitten among them. The striking design engages tactile and visual senses while inviting readers to observe colors, compare shapes, and learn new vocabulary (a final spread shows and identifies each element in the pile). Ages 2-4. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-K-The third volume in a partnership with the Whitney Museum of American Art, this gorgeous hide-and-seek collaboration invites children to see the world as artists do. With every turn of each acetate page, readers will encounter brightly colored elements that layer on the elements of the previous page, slowly creating a collage of leaves and critters. A final spread reunites the items in their autumnal glory. An interactive and inspiring work that will aid in color, counting, and shape concepts. © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
An art book, an autumn book, a discover-the-world-around-you book, all rolled into one.As the book starts, young readers are told, "A pile of leaves is like a collage. Each layer adds something new and hides something underneath." When children turn to the next page they're in for a delightful surprise. Indeed there is a pile of leaves, but what a pile of leaves it is! A series of board-framed acetate pages makes up the pile. Each see-through page has an image or two on it. As children uncover the layers by turning the pages, they encounter different kinds of leaves, an acorn, ants, a grasshopper, a worm, a mitten, and someone's lost key. As the pile on the recto gets deconstructed, the pile on the verso builds up in reverse. Some children may be inspired to tuck in their own little additions to the pile. What a wonderful way to invite children to explore not just this book, but also the world around them, where so many simple treasures hide in plain sight. For those curious to know the names of the different leaf types, bugs, and objects in the leaf pile, the last double-page spread identifies each.Published in association with the Whitney Museum of American Art, this book is its own little work of art. (Board book. 2-4) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
