A jaunty rhyme describes the pleasure of bananas starting with the smile-like shape to the and ways to eat them. Bright illustrations with an occasional die-cut enhance the feel of this bright yellow fruit.
Banana, Banana, Banana!
Who ate the little bug? Boldly shaped animals are eliminated with each page turn as die-cut circles decrease in size until the final spread with the ladybug perched on a young nose. This colorful book is presented in a sturdy format with its question and answers.
Who Ate the Little Bug?
Meet various vehicles (e.g., a fire truck, a train, and even a helicopter) each with their own personality as they each do their specific jobs. The simple illustrations each include something to touch, such as the rough rubbery wheel of a tractor.
On the Go
Here are little squirrel, raccoon, hedgehog, and mouse … but where are you? Lift the flap to reveal a small mirror until the final spread. The animals ask where the Little Baby is. Unfold the sturdy page to discover a larger mirror and a greeting from all of the animals.
Little Mouse, Where Are You?
It looks like rain so Little Chick asks different animals for a dry place to wait until it stops. Young fingers can feel the wool of the goat, the chick’s soft feathers, and so on until it finds a place in the cozy barn with a horse.
Little Chick
Readers will help baby critters find home as a disc is moved around on the pages of this sturdy board book. Along each short journey, they can identify other familiar items. For young travelers, the same format is used in Make Tracks In the Sky by Johnny Dyrander to introduce five vehicles that fly, one all the way to space!
Let’s Go Home, Baby Puppy
A unique shape informs as the reader reads about space travel and then can blast off when the book transforms into an entire rocket.
Read-and-Play Rocket
Readers will discover brief facts about plants all around as a jay hawk searches for food. When small flaps on each page are lifted, additional tidbits will be found. The same format is used when readers search for Whose Baby Is This? as a mother goose looks for her young.
What Plant Is This?
Explore the weather in lively language (both English and Spanish) accompanied by appealing, childlike illustrations. More books in the Whatever the Weather series include: Nieve/Snow, Lluvia/Rain, and Viento/Wind.
Sol / Sun
Each of the child-sized titles in this series introduces young children to classical music with a press of a button and accompanied by simple illustration. Each book has an on-off button.
My First Story Orchestra: Carnival of the Animals
Simplified versions of seven familiar traditional tales such as the Three Pigs, Goldilocks, and Cinderella, are presented in an oversized, sturdy format with interactivity built in.
My First Lift-The-Flap Fairy Tales
High contrast images of both familiar and less common things include a tactile element to stimulate eyes and hands and can be opened for tummy time. Dual-sided, this handsome book was first published in France and comes in a slipcover.
My First Black and White Book: Touch!
Thick pages encourage small hands to move boats of all types over each page. Additional information and ideas are included for a series that is sure to grown with children’s interests.
Make Tracks: Boats
Pablo is a beret-wearing canine whose favorite subject is cats. Other dogs don’t understand him, and (understandably) cats run away from him. Pablo decides to give up his art until befriended by a brave feline. Bold forms, color, and rich language tell a seemingly simply but surprisingly sophisticated tale meant to be shared. Older children may enjoy this board book as well.
Pablo Dreams of Cats
Share photos of cheerful babies wearing familiar clothing from hats to pajamas in this small, sturdy book, just right for reading on a lap.
What Is Baby Wearing?
After a busy day, animal families snuggle up just like children and their parents in this cozy illustrated and gently rhyming board book.
We Hug Night Night
Leo and Dad go out to meet Nana G for lunch at a restaurant. Leo’s toy seahorse joins them, giving young children something extra to see on each page.
Leo at Lunch
Five children dressed as dinosaurs stomp, thump, and march their way across the pages, leaving one at a time until there are none.
Cinco Pequeños Dinosaurios / Five Enormous Dinosaurs
Short rhymes introduce animals in clear, simple illustration with a touch of texture. Playful vegetables are presented in another title from the Touch and Feel series: Fruits & Veggies (opens in a new window).
Animals: Touch-and-Feel First Words
A prickly hotel? Plants and animals thrive because of the cactus and its spring flowers, seeds, et al! The simple text describing this environment and the lives it supports provides an intriguing introduction to the desert ecosystem.
Welcome to the Cactus Hotel
Young children are invited to a powwow in this 1-to-10 counting board book — beginning with one car traveling to the powwow to 10 tribal citizens enjoying the celebration. The indigenous author and illustrator team that wrote Powwow Day (for slightly older readers) now introduce younger readers to the powwow tradition.
On Powwow Day
Words in English and Spanish label bold shapes depicting people, common animals, and familiar objects on sturdy pages. Interesting juxtapositions add to the appeal on bright spreads.
Miro / Look
Everything dad does, Lionel does, too. From hair combing to having “a think,” it’s clear that father and child enjoy each other’s company. Small format and simple illustrations on durable pages show common activities and the bond between parent and child.
Lionel Is Just Like Dad
Is that sound the bus? No, it’s the garbage truck! Other sounds bring more vehicles to the neighborhood. The school bus finally arrives bringing the child’s sister home!