I thought it would be fun to share some of Dante’s favorite books every month (complete listing of reviews). He tends to have a few favorites at a time and we read them over and over. This way, parents & teachers can learn about some picture books they might want to share with their kids and I got a built-in memory of his favorites over time. Win, win!
This month Dante seems to have finally rotated to some new favorites – one that was already on the shelf and two that I just bought him.
You're My Little Baby: A Touch-and-Feel Book by Eric Carle Published by Little Simon on August 25, 2020
Genres: Picture Books
Pages: 14
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased
Goodreads
From beloved author-illustrator Eric Carle comes this brand-new interactive board book that features sweet text about baby love and touch-and-feel elements throughout!
You’re my little bear cub Both playful and shy You’re my little baby bird Together we will fly
Loving parents throughout the animal kingdom dote on their little babies in this sweet novelty book perfect for showing a baby how they are loved, whether by a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, or other caring figure in a child’s life.
With Eric Carle’s classic and colorful artwork and tender text that rhymes, this book is a perfect addition to every Eric Carle collection!
Eric Carle is always a win, so I wasn’t at all surprised that this new book became an immediate favorite. It’s a board book – which is always best, since Dante tends to tear pages accidentally while turning them. It’s the perfect length, short and sweet. And it’s so interactive! There’s with flaps to lift, some with fuzzy or scratchy things to touch, and the final page is a mirror – the favorite page of course! It has a nice rhythm and beautiful colorful pictures, a perfect story for Dante’s age (2 years old) and younger.
Ten Twinkly Stars by Russell Julian Published by Tiger Tales on March 1, 2016
Genres: Picture Books
Pages: 28
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased
Goodreads
Join the adorable animals as they snuggle and snooze beneath the twinkling stars in this enchanting book. Young readers will delight in the colorful, tactile pages as they watch the die-cut stars decrease from 10 to 1 with each turn of the page.
We’ve had Ten Twinkly Stars for almost a year now, but Dante just now decided he loves it. It has cut outs of ten stars on the cover and first page, then each page the number reduces as you count down to one. Dante loves to put his fingers in the star cut outs and I can see as he gets older really using that to teach him to count. Right now, I do count them (when his patience permits) but he’s not as invested as I’m sure he will be when gets older.
There are two things that I don’t love from an educator perspective and they are quite minor, but worth mentioning.
- Since there are cutouts on every page, you end up with the correct number of cutouts on the left hand page and then 1 fewer on the right hand page. They’ve added in a drawn (but not cut out) star on the right page, so the count is correct. And I’m not sure there’s any better way to do this, but I can see some lower-level kindergartners getting confused. Especially since there are double the number of stars on the full page spread (so if the number is 8, there are 17 cut outs and 1 drawn star, 8 cut outs on the left side and 7 cut outs with 1 drawn star on the right side).
- On the top left of each page there is the numeral, followed by text for the story of the animals going to bed. On some pages the first word is the number, on others it’s a different word. I think a predictable pattern would have supported early readers a lot better.
Hooray for Little Fingers! by Tristan Mory Published by Twirl on January 7, 2020
Genres: Picture Books
Pages: 16
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased
Goodreads
What can 5 little fingers do? Tickle, wiggle, dance—and much more!
A lively and irresistible board book: Hooray for Little Fingers! will take young readers on a journey towards learning to count and exploring just what their little fingers can do! With die-cut holes on every spread, one little finger can be an elephant's trunk, two little fingers can be a crab's claw. but who is peeking through one of the holes? The wriggly surprise at the end makes for a satisfying discovery.
• An interactive book that practices basic counting and encourages imaginative play• Colorful designs and bright illustrations capture the attention of babies and toddlers• Durable board book design is ideal for travel and just the right size for little hands
Interactive and completely enjoyable, Hooray for Little Fingers makes a great gift idea for baby showers and birthdays.• Interactive children's book• Books for baby–years old• Books for preschool and up
I thought Dante would enjoy this one a bit more than he has, since it has all these finger holes in it. But it’s still in the top 3 for the month and it is brand new, so it managed to displace some old favorites. He enjoys putting his fingers in the holes and I think as he gets older it will be a good counting book.
It suffers from a similar problem as Ten Twinkly Stars, in that the holes from the previous page impact the current page. Unlike Ten Twinkly Stars, this book hasn’t really tried to deal with those holes in a artful way. They are just there. I get that if you have holes on one page they go through to the other. But for as much as these books cost, I feel like a little more thought could go into it. That’s my perspective though, Dante could care less LOL!
oh these picture books look so adorable here!!!