The past year has seen the release of many books that come alive with movement, inviting babies into an early relationship with books. Babies seem to love books naturally, but books inviting a physical interaction give babies an active role, give birth to a new kind of partnership between parent and child, and might even help draw more fidgety lap-sitters into story. One word of caution, parents with babies who tend to get wound up at night, might not want to use interactive books for your bedtime routine.
Active babies can find a place for themselves in books that permit play. These are books that allow young children to take action within their pages and claim ownership of a book in a new way.
Building and reading are two early fascinations of young children. Duplo and Little Brown have brilliantly paired the two in a graduated series of board books for babies 1 and up. The younger level begins with smaller sets of blocks and smaller books, like Play with Me, which feature a small lion perched on a Duplo. The colorful illustrations by Maureen Roffey show the cub searching among animal friends for a place to play. Each page contains a square yellow indention where babies can rest the small cub while parents read the story story. This young series with other titles, Cock-a-doodle-doo!; Clown's Vacation; and If I Were Bigger comes with a Duplo character, who stars in the story. (each set sells for $7.50 from Little Brown)
For toddlers two and up, there are two sets that have more pages, more concepts and more Duplos. Play with Dan and Lucy's Birthday reveal concepts of colors, shapes and numbers through interactive fun. Duplo comes to story in Jack and the Beanstalk and Goldilocks and the Three Bears. The books unfold out to tell the stories and toddlers literally build a story. When Jack comes to a bridge, for example, it is the toddler who builds the simple block bridge illustrated in the book. Books give both a sense of accomplishment and being a genuine part of the story. (Each toddler book sells for $11.95 from Little Brown; recommended for two and up)
Harriet Ziefert has written two "sticker-story" books young children can help tell. Take Care of Brown Bear, illustrated by Susan Baum has bright, bold pictures with familiar scenes from home. Toddlers can use the 18 reusable stickers to help Brown Bear get bathed, bandaged, entertained or nurtured with drinks, stories and bedtime routine. Helping this book character through familiar steps might be just the boost a small child needs to recover from a bruise or relax into sleep.(Ages 18 months- 3 years) Toddlers who are learning numbers will be helped by Ziefert's Count With Little Bunny, illustrated by Lisa Ernst (Ages 2-5 years). Not only does Little Bunny count objects common to young experience, but the book and stickers can also encourage early experiences with addition and subtraction. The durability of stickers will survive rough handling. Smaller children will need to be watched closely because these stickers will probably be put in their mouths first, but they even work when soaked with saliva! (both from Viking, $6.99)
Suddenly there are numbers of books with cleverly designed holes that become openings for puppetry fun. Parent fingers will probably be primary puppets for very young babies, but it won't take long before little toddler fingers find their way into these enticing holes.
Julie Lacome's board book, Seashore (Candlewick, $5.95; ages 6 months to 3 years) is full of holes. These intentional holes are each an opening for fingers to make fun. Fingers become claws as "shrimp scuttles", fins as "fish swims" and tusks as "penguin flaps." Whether you're planning for beach or zoo, babies will delight in the way you bring the creatures alive and toddlers will want to do themselves, diving into the imaginative fun of Seashore. Lacome's book Garden(Candlewick, $5.95; ages 6 months to 3 years) brings the creatures of a garden (butterfly, spider, worm, mouse and more) alive for babies in the same wonderful way.
Nicola Smee's Three Little Kittens (Scholastic, $6.95; ages 6 months-4 years) has three little finger puppets kitties that beckon young story lovers to hunt down in the sturdy pages of the book. When Mother Cat suggests a game of hide and seek, her babies scatter. Holes for the finger puppets and flaps they poke through will increase elements of fun, surprise, and very active reading.
Wiggle Your Fingers asks toddlers to put their fingers in the holes and the page turn reveals a finger surprise that will delight. One finger becomes a mouse's nose; two is a dog's tail and four fingers turn into the paws of a cat. You might encourage counting for older toddlers and stimulate imagination by asking them to guess what changes their fingers might make. (Boyds Mills Press, $4.95; ages 18 months to 4 years) .
Adding different senses adds a new dimension to books. Study after study acknowledges the difference of learning styles and in truth, learning is the most fun when it involves several senses. Parents can introduce their children to hands-on learning experiences with books that excite many senses.
Ellen Blonder illustrates a simple version of The Velveteen Rabbit in a "Little Hands-On Book" with words so simple a preschooler will understand them, but the book is a delight of textures. The surfaces are fuzzy, sparkly, smooth and spongy, each one babies will reach out to touch. (Random House, $7.99; ages 1 1/2-5 years)
Lizi Boyd's study paged books Splish Splash and Fuzz and Fur (Chronicle, $5.95 each; ages 8 months to 3 years) have simple line drawings and easy to turn pages with peek-a-boo materials in a variety of textures that babies will love to touch. Splish Splash accents the fun of bath time with soft towel-like material while Fuzz & Fur introduces animals with woolly fabrics that beg to be felt.
Eric Carle's The Very Busy Spider (Putnam, $9.95; ages 18 months-4 years) comes to board book format with the same raised texturing that has thrilled preschoolers for over a decade. The spider busily spins her web while animals invite her to play. Children will have great fun making the animal noises, seeing (and feeling) the web grow, finding the fly on each page, and hearing the satisfying end as the spider falls asleep after her busy day.
Harriet Ziefert and Laura Rader collaborate on The Best Smelling Alphabet Book Ever (Little Simon, $12.95; 1-5). "Once a curious little mouse,/Found his way into a house/ He asked his friends to come and see, If they could eat from a to z." begins a story that babies will love for rhythm, rhyme and lovely word sounds that come from the alliteration; toddlers will love for those qualities and for the hidden smells of nine scented foods, and preschoolers will love for the humor and alphabet play within a story that makes sense. This is one of those books that happily extends its use to a broad age range.
Let's face it, most baby experience books with their mouths before their eyes. That's why it's great that there are a whole new crop of plastic (also water indestructible) and cloth books.
"Little Softies" are cloth books ready for cuddle, and because of their tiny size, they're easy to stick in pocket, diaper bag, purse, or a small teething mouth. The baby-centered theme come in two sets: Jungle/Wheels and Toys/Farm (each set $4.95 from Little Simon; ages 0-3)
Popular illustrator Sian Tucker makes two sets of bath books, each bold in color and simple in illustration. Animal Splash and Splish Splash are bath and pool perfect. (both from Little Simon, $3.95; ages 0-3)
Want books for every situation? Gerald Hawksley's Three Books for Baby is a set of three near-wordless books that meet all play needs. Playtime is a sturdy board book with drawings and labels of toys babies love; Bathtime is a plastic book that pictures and names everything from tub to shampoo; and cloth Bedtime can be cuddled at night from teddy to table lamp. This is a perfect gift for a new baby. (set from Little Simon, $10.95; ages 0-3)
Babies might begin "reading" Lift the Lid: A toilet training book (Child's Play, $6.99; ages 6 months-4 years) by chewing on its vinyl pages and only later grow into its true purpose. Shaped like a toilet seat, the book gives a perfect description of the toileting process from "Raise the lid and pull down your pants" to "Well done and Goodbye!", each bit of advice voiced by brightly colored animals and insects that cavort on the rim. This little book might not be understood by all, but parent in the throes of toilet training will definitely appreciate it!
There are so many wonderful pop-up, lift the flap books for toddlers, that it's important to make decisions about these fragile interactive books. I've always believed that it's important for babies to have books they can manipulate, but I put away more fragile books, partly because they're too expensive to continually replace, partly to let children know that books are precious and important. I surround special sharing books with a whole ritual of how to treat books, teaching everything from how to turn pages to how to put them carefully away. A word of advice when considering flap books for young children. I've noticed that big flaps that open from up to down are easier for younger babies to manipulate than those that open from left to right.
Lucy Cousins' character Maisy is already known and loved by young fans everywhere. In her newest book, she becomes a wonderful guide for alphabet learning in Maisy's ABC (Candlewick Press, $12.95; ages 3-5) where flaps and tabs show a kite that flies, a train that carries cargo of snake and rabbit hidden behind flaps, and all kinds of other surprises. All is done with the colorfully bright playful style Cousins has made famous. Both the longer paper pulls and the subject make this book best for young preschoolers.
Dorling Kindersley has a new series filled with their wonderfully brilliant photographs that now leap from the page and welcome young children into interactive relationship. Heavy cardboard allows adorable animals to literally pop from beyond the boundaries of the books to say hello to children and introduce them to animal sounds, words and concepts of counting in Action Pops, Number Pops, Farm Pops and Noisy Pops. (all from Dorling Kindersley, $4.95; ages 1-5)
Mick Inkpen's Where, oh where is Kipper's Bear (HBJ, $16.00; ages 6 months-5 years) is a skillful blend of story with a young theme (Kipper can't find his teddy bear), rhythm and rhyme; seek and find (you hunt the pages for the bear), clever paper design (there are pop-ups, pop-outs, and all kinds of wiggles and waggles); lots of characters who inspire funny dramatic voices (like the Bleeper people from the moon) and lots of surprises (including the satisfying end where you find the teddy reading under the covers with a flashlight that really lights up!)
You expect something special even from the cover of Richard Powell's Grrr! and Baa! The lion on the cover of Grrr! has a soft fuzzy mane and the sheep on Baa! has a fleecy cuddly coat. Inside, the books have sounds to make guessing fun , a "Who's that?" refrain that inspires chorusing and sturdy flaps that can be lifted to reveal jungle and farm animals. The books combine winning elements of sound, animals, softness, hide and seek, and interaction. (both from Little Simon, $4.50; ages 6 months-5 years)
"What's new?" asked the Gnu:A Pop-up Book of Rhyming Wordplay (Dial, $12.95; ages 2-5) by Arnold Shapiro is a wild romp of active animals. A repeated refrain "'What's new?" asked the Gnu'" yields a variety of answers from the Bunny that won money to the Giraffe that laughed when the pig put on the wig. Underlying the fun of surprising pop-ups and tabs that produce movement is a story that's great for learning prereading skills of prediction and event sequencing.
Nick Sharrat's Rocket Countdown (Candlewick, $12.95; ages 18 months-5 years) gives young wannabe astronauts the feeling of being their with flaps and pulls that put an astronaut aboard a rocket, close the door, turn on computer, set controls, fastening seat belt, and finally the rocket literally blasts out of the book at lift off. The countdown is a great set up for a dramatic read and the activities in this very young interactive book give children a real feeling of being there.
Juan Wijngaard's excellence of illustration comes to young children in a near-wordless, sound-filled Buzz! Buzz! (Lodestar, $9.99; ages 2-5) A pesky mosquito buzzes around animals who respond by scratching, batting, and snarling, until the frog gulps the insect at the book's end. The cleverness of paper design brings almost a quality of animation to this book.
Young action-lovers can also take off with Ken Wilson-Max's Little Red Plane (Scholastic, $13.95; ages 21/2 -5 years). Sturdy flaps and tabs allow young children to move propeller, steer and move vehicles across pages from take off to landing. There are so many different interactive elements on each page, this book is better for an older toddler. This is the perfect book for a young child who's apprehensive about flying.
A book can become all the more special to a child when its main character is a doll or animal to cuddle while reading.
Little Mouse Learns the ABC's is a whole kit of letter learning for children who are ready and parents who want to take a playful approach. The kit comes with a board book, that introduces the story illustrated by Elizabeth Worsley of a little mouse who finds his wooden alphabet blocks all over the house. There are enclosed a set of blocks so that you and your child can initiate your own letter hide and seek and a little plush mouse doll (who can be dressed and undressed) exactly like the one in the story who can serve as a companion on all adventures, letter searches or otherwise. (Henry Holt, $9.95; ages 3-5)
There are so many new books for babies that are going to instantly stimulate interaction, but there's no better interaction than the pleasure of a parent reading and talking with a child. There are several new board books to renew and stimulate that kind of participation.
New to board book format are two books for young children by Ellen Stoll Walsh. Mouse Count and Mouse Paint tell simple stories which have subtle concepts underneath. This combination makes for a book that can be shared for a number of years. Mouse Count tells a simple story of survival of the fittest and Mouse Paint speaks of color mixing and camouflage. Both have wonderful illustrations that both parents and children will enjoy. (both from HBJ, $6.00; ages 3-6)
Also new to board book format is Eric Carle's classic Do You Want to Be My Friend? (HarperCollins, $6.95; ages 3-6) where a small mouse searching for a friend lets children guess at what animal comes next while teaching part to whole concepts.
The silly song This Old Man has been reillustrated by Emily Bolam in a thick-paged, laminated book that will bolster family singing for all ages. (Little Simon, $8.95; ages 0-5)
Noelle Carter's Lift and Touch Where's My Christmas Stocking (Scholastic, $6.95; ages 2-5) has a simple hide and seek story of a cat who enlists the help of Mr. Mouse to find his stocking. Their search leads from shiny foil ornaments, to a box that smells of Christmas cookies until the two finally locate the fuzzy red stocking behind the Christmas tree. What a great way to unite the sights, smells and feelings of Christmas for young children.
Nicola Smee's Three Little Teddy Bears and Three Little Mice place little finger puppets in the excitement of Christmas setting. The bears are excited to travel with Santa and the mice wait in a home for his arrival. Both a filled with interactive excitement of puppetry and season. (Both from Scholastic, $6.95; ages 1-4)
Leslie Kimmelman's simple story about Hanukkah, Hanukkah Lights, Hanukkah Nights is full of fun and tradition and now reaches a younger audience with a button that plays "My Little Dreidel". (HarperCollins, $8.95; ages 2-6)