When children begin to eat, they are a little sloppy. That's because they throw themselves fully into the new experience. They may well have a similar approach to books. As we watched my daughter teethe on board books we would remark on her fine taste in books. Board books provide an affordable answer to parents who want their children to be able to manipulate books. These books generally have thick pages that facilitate page turning for fingers growing into fine motor control, have plastic-coated to protect them from the wear and tear of active baby life, and cost less than most picture books. The amazing number of board book released in the last year bears testament to their success.
Many new board books are re-releases of beloved early books, now made more durable for babies who begin by loving their rhythm and rhyme in infancy and continue to love them as toddlers. They hold up better in board book format. Some classics making new board book appearance are: Bill Martin's rhythmic Brown Bear, Brown Bear (Holt, $6.95); Molly Bang's warm bedtime count-down, Ten, Nine, Eight (Tupelo, $6.95); Nancy Carlstrom's bouncy Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear? (Little Simon, $6.99); and Donald Crew's pleaser Freight Train (Tupelo, $6.95).
Familiar rhymes have become board books illustrated by well-loved artists like: Lucy Cousin's Mother Goose poetry in Little Miss Muffet and other nursery rhymes (Dutton, $5.99); Michael Hague's illustrated action rhyme Teddy Bear Teddy Bear (Tupelo Books, $6.95; ages 1-5); and Keith Baker's big fat hen (HBJ, $5.95).
There are board books with more story for older fans who will be pleased by Byron Barton's The Three Bears and The Little Red Hen (both from HarperCollins, $6.95); and Martin Waddell's Owl Babies (Candlewick, $6.99)). Well-known concepts books are also appearing like Denise Fleming's graphically bold Count! (Henry Holt, $6.95); Barbara McGrath's math book for young math and candy lovers The M&M's Counting Board Book (Charlesbridge, $4.95) and David Kirk's glowing art is accessible to the young in Miss Spider's Tea Party: The Counting Book (Scholastic, $8.95).
Zimm creates two perfect new board books for infants and parents to share, BaBaHaHa and Oooh Oooh Moo (both from HarperCollins, $4.95; ages 0-2). Illustrations of simple faces created in high-contrast black and white stand out against simple pastel backgrounds; those in BaBaHaHa are human, and those in OoohOooh Moo are animal. The silly sounds, both animal and human, will put smiles on parent faces, too, and are sure to inspire all kinds of fun sound making and dramatization that are the foundation for parent-child book sharing.
Many of the most successful books for toddlers are those which show elements of everyday life. One of the best ways to do this is with pictures and Dorling Kindersley Publishers time and again prove the experts of dazzling photography matched with developmental awareness. My First Word Board Book (DK, $7.95; ages 1-3) features thirty-two thick pages crammed with bright photos which picture themes like clothing and the beach. ABC, 123, Nature and Colors (DK,$4.95; ages 2-5) teach concepts with images are just as familiar and vivid.
Dorling Kindersley also provides board books about subjects young children love. There are photograph-filled shaped board books Piglet, Chick, Bunny and Lamb (DK, $3.95; ages 2-4) for animal admirers and mini-sized books, Speedy Machines, Tough Machines, and Busy Machines (DK, $2.95; ages 2-5) for vehicle enthusiasts.
Several African-American writers are bringing books to young babies. Andrea and Brian Pinkney's I Smell Honey shows a mother and child preparing dinner with a sensory vividness that lets you "hear catfish cracklin'" and "red beans bubblin'" while Pretty Brown Face shows a father admiring his young son 's "as special as can be" features (both from HBJ, $4.95).
Cheryl Hudson's Let's Count uses realistic illustrations to capture the toddler's joy of counting the surrounding world, while her Good Morning and Good Night Baby use rhyme to help with wake up and bedtime transitions. (both from Scholastic, $3.95)
Eloise Greenfield writes a board rhyming board book about the dynamic, active Kia Tanisha and the writes a sequel just as fast moving in Kia Tanisha Drives Her Car (both from HarperCollins, $5.95; ages 3-5)
Several books make a point of teaching us that it's never to early to think about making books interactive. Jo Lodge's Patch and his Favorite Things and Patch in the Garden (Red Wagon Books, HBJ, $5.95; ages 6 months to 3 years) has big, bold pictures and a wealth of materials that give textural expression to the explorations of Patch, an inquisitive puppy. There's a sponge in the bath, fur on Patch, and a tree bark made of corrugated cardboard. Activities, like texture, correspond to the way babies experience the world; they can play peek-a-boo with Patch or find themselves in a mirror.
Well-known authors are present again. Eric Carle's Very Quiet Cricket Board Book (Philomel, $10.95; ages 1-5 ) holds bright collages and the story of a small insect whose search for his own voice actually allows children to hear it!
Marc Brown, well-known for being attuned to children's emotional development, creates two new board books for early learners. Both books come with cardboard play figures of Arthur and his little sister DW who move around the flap books. Kiss Hello, Kiss Good-bye comforts children whose parents have to leave them for a night out, day care or trip goodbye and Say the Magic Word is a playful approach to early manners. (both from Random House, $4.99; ages 2-4)
Ticklish toddlers can still thrill to This Little Piggy (HarperCollins, $6.95; ages 6 months- 3 years) This version comes in the foot-shaped board book whose giant toes wiggle to expose illustrations of the actions of the little piggies as they prepare a surprise party for the smallest piggy. The foot's sole pictures a story older children can tell.