Book Report: March 2011 - Board Book Edition
In order to keep these posts at a reasonable length, I am breaking up my book report for March - but by type/genre/age rather than by the order I read them in. Mostly because I'm thinking not everyone wants to read what I think of the latest board book by DK, so this should make that stuff easier to skip by the people that (for reasons unknown to me) care what I think of Grail or City of Bones. But! before you decide to skip it, know that this post has pictures! and a silly story about my niece at the end!
So, without further ado, here are the Board Books:
Baby: Baa! Baa! by DK
This isn’t my favorite book in this series, but I rather adore the series as a whole, and I think the toys picked are cute and interesting.
To be fair, this series would be nothing more than the pretty standard “photos of everyday objects” board books, if it weren’t for the fact that first, they are made by DK, so the photos and layout is well above average, and secondly, the text is both the perfect length and full of decently interesting (to babies) sounds and adjectives. Last but not least, each right-hand page has a chunky flap for babies to open up and peek inside. Even better, the flaps have little chunky tabs that stick out past the edge of the page, making them easy enough for little fingers to grasp, but not so easy that the littlest readers aren’t still getting some fine motor skills practice in.
Planet Earth: Penguins by Quinlan B. Lee
The photographs of the penguins are absolutely gorgeous, but the text, unfortunately isn’t anything special. Like a lot of non-fiction board books, most of the individual sentences are decent to good, with a few awkward ones thrown in, but there isn’t always a lot of logic or flow form page to page. (Which is kinda sad, because from what I've heard of the tv series, it's very good.)
Baby! Baby! by Vicky Ceelen
Personally, I think more people need to make board books like this one (and it's companion), and not just because it’s incredibly hilarious.
The first book in this duo is simply a series of pictures of babies and animals, one of each on each spread, with the babies and animals in similar poses. No text. But don’t be worried about being bored, these are not sacharrine sweet Anne Geddes’ infants, these babies are playful and ridiculous and have personality to spare, yet are still oh so very adorable. There is the obvious baby monkey and baby human, but there is also plenty that is unusual and unexpected, like the caterpillar with it’s “head” raised and a human baby pushing his/her head up with his/her arms. The photos are not only very “awww” inducing they are also funny in ways that appeal to adults and children of all ages.
Now, as to why I think we need more books like this...
While the point of reading aloud to toddlers is to expose them to language, the point of giving board books to toddlers and babies and letting them play with them is about familiarizing them with how books and reading works. Which, since even the most advanced crawlers are oblivious to the idea of text, isn’t so much about printed words, but the idea of books as things to be enjoyed, pages as things that are meant turned in sequence, and objects on the page as things that are meant to be read. When it comes to this last, though, even the smartest new talkers* don’t really get that adults know what to say based on the letters on the page. Creating pictures that encourage babies and toddlers to analyze them gives children opportunities to think about symbolic language** ways that helps them pick up reading - and talking - more quickly when the time is right.
And one such way to encourage toddlers to “read” the pictures is to show two very different objects in ways that highlight their similarity - such as a yawning lion cub and a yawning infant.
Baby Nose to Baby Toes by Vicky Ceelen
Just as cute as the first, but with rhyming, rhythmic language to go along with each set of pictures.
EyeLike Nature: Sticks by Play Bac
EyeLike Nature: Stones by Play Bac
EyeLike Nature: Snow by Play Bac
This series is pretty awesome as well. It’s mostly just a bunch of pretty photographs of kids doing stuff with the objects in question. What makes it special, aside from the gorgeous photos, isn’t just the conceit - showing kids exploring nature by focusing on a single type of object - but also the text and organization. Individually the sentences tend to hover somewhere around really good - nice, simple, to the point, but also descriptive and no awkward constructions. Together, though, the flow from page to page has a beautiful logic and a rhythm that is missing from most children’s non-fiction board books. Especially the ones that, like this one, don’t try to rhyme, or use alliteration, etc.
Altogether, the conceit (narrow focus), photos (appealing and readable), and text (logical and organized) make it not just a pretty book with cute pictures of kids and nature, but a non-fiction board book that deserves to be called non-fiction - one that encourages kids to explore and think about the world around them on a level that they understand.
Charlie and Lola’s Numbers by Lauren Child
I found this counting book to be fairly cute, but it is definitely made for fans of the show. People, adults and children alike, that are unfamiliar with Charlie and Lola will find some of Lola’s names for everyday objects confusing. Which is kinda the opposite goal of a counting book for babies.
*So my semi-genius/prodigy niece who was speaking sentences at about 1 1/2*** and reading by 4? Spent a good chunk of the her second Christmas (she was just a few weeks shy of two) carrying around the board part of the Goodnight Moon board game and asking everyone to read it to her. When we tried to explain that we needed the book in order to read her the story, she was. so. not. getting. it. She understood the difference between pictures and books, but the whole part where the board folded like a book confused her, because she wasn’t yet completely getting that we knew what to say based on the print on the page - she was a couple months shy of true print awareness. She just knew that books resulted in people saying words, she liked words, and that books also had pictures and open and closed.
**Print awareness is an extremely important part of preparing young children to read, but (imho) playing with the idea of communicating through symbols is just as important - and until children are old enough to become aware of print, that means giving them other kinds of symbols to learn and use.
Technically, they do this anyway - kids learn corporate logos (McDonald’s arches, Disney castle) really young and really quickly because they are meant to be read at the level that young children are at developmentally. But it tends to be very one sided - they know what it means to them, but don’t have much opportunity to practice saying them back. Baby sign language, pictures that invite them to look more closely, and of course talking to young children, all help develop an understanding of language as something that is symbolic and intended for communication.
***True conversation she had with my sister, her mom, at about 18 months (er, more likely closer to 21), during an afternoon of running errands:
Niece: Where we going now?
[note that she has everything right about the sentence construction - with the exception of the absence the helping verb]
Sister/Mom: Mommy needs to get something from Target and then we are going home.
Niece: The big Target or the little Target?
[it needs to be mentioned here that “big Target” and “little Target” are not phrases that my sister used and that Niece picked up (although " [blank] or [blank]?" probably was something she heard a lot), Niece came up with that observation, description, and phrasing all on her own. So aside from "OMG how big is that sentence for such a little girl?" there is also the part where she is understanding both adjectives and sentence construction enough to mix them up and adapt them as needed.]
*blinks at her obviously changeling child*
Sister/Mom: The little Target.
*arrive at little Target. look for laundry detergent. Sister realizes that this Target doesn’t have the one they need*
Sister/Mom: Shoot.
Niece: What?
Sister/Mom: They don’t have the laundry detergent Mommy needs.
*pause*
Niece: You should have gone to the big Target, Mommy.
I kid you not. Now, granted, this was an especially verbose and sophisticated conversation for Niece at the time, thus why it stuck in my sister’s head and was recounted to everyone in the family. Still. Girl only said her first word about 9 months earlier, at just under 12 months. But even more than that, she clearly understood what big and little meant in very abstract ways - she totally got that the bigger Target wasn't just larger, but had more stuff.
yes, my niece is scary smart, and has been since she was was barely a year old and starting making baby signs - the CORRECT baby signs for the animal in front of her - that she had previously only seen illustrated in her baby sign language board books.
***********************
Ta da! There you have it. Well, the board book part of it anyway. Reviews of picture books, easy readers, and OMG actual novels (for adults, kids, and teens) forthcoming.
So, without further ado, here are the Board Books:
Baby: Baa! Baa! by DK
This isn’t my favorite book in this series, but I rather adore the series as a whole, and I think the toys picked are cute and interesting.
To be fair, this series would be nothing more than the pretty standard “photos of everyday objects” board books, if it weren’t for the fact that first, they are made by DK, so the photos and layout is well above average, and secondly, the text is both the perfect length and full of decently interesting (to babies) sounds and adjectives. Last but not least, each right-hand page has a chunky flap for babies to open up and peek inside. Even better, the flaps have little chunky tabs that stick out past the edge of the page, making them easy enough for little fingers to grasp, but not so easy that the littlest readers aren’t still getting some fine motor skills practice in.
Planet Earth: Penguins by Quinlan B. Lee
The photographs of the penguins are absolutely gorgeous, but the text, unfortunately isn’t anything special. Like a lot of non-fiction board books, most of the individual sentences are decent to good, with a few awkward ones thrown in, but there isn’t always a lot of logic or flow form page to page. (Which is kinda sad, because from what I've heard of the tv series, it's very good.)
Baby! Baby! by Vicky Ceelen
Personally, I think more people need to make board books like this one (and it's companion), and not just because it’s incredibly hilarious.
The first book in this duo is simply a series of pictures of babies and animals, one of each on each spread, with the babies and animals in similar poses. No text. But don’t be worried about being bored, these are not sacharrine sweet Anne Geddes’ infants, these babies are playful and ridiculous and have personality to spare, yet are still oh so very adorable. There is the obvious baby monkey and baby human, but there is also plenty that is unusual and unexpected, like the caterpillar with it’s “head” raised and a human baby pushing his/her head up with his/her arms. The photos are not only very “awww” inducing they are also funny in ways that appeal to adults and children of all ages.
Now, as to why I think we need more books like this...
While the point of reading aloud to toddlers is to expose them to language, the point of giving board books to toddlers and babies and letting them play with them is about familiarizing them with how books and reading works. Which, since even the most advanced crawlers are oblivious to the idea of text, isn’t so much about printed words, but the idea of books as things to be enjoyed, pages as things that are meant turned in sequence, and objects on the page as things that are meant to be read. When it comes to this last, though, even the smartest new talkers* don’t really get that adults know what to say based on the letters on the page. Creating pictures that encourage babies and toddlers to analyze them gives children opportunities to think about symbolic language** ways that helps them pick up reading - and talking - more quickly when the time is right.
And one such way to encourage toddlers to “read” the pictures is to show two very different objects in ways that highlight their similarity - such as a yawning lion cub and a yawning infant.
Baby Nose to Baby Toes by Vicky Ceelen
Just as cute as the first, but with rhyming, rhythmic language to go along with each set of pictures.
EyeLike Nature: Sticks by Play Bac
EyeLike Nature: Stones by Play Bac
EyeLike Nature: Snow by Play Bac
This series is pretty awesome as well. It’s mostly just a bunch of pretty photographs of kids doing stuff with the objects in question. What makes it special, aside from the gorgeous photos, isn’t just the conceit - showing kids exploring nature by focusing on a single type of object - but also the text and organization. Individually the sentences tend to hover somewhere around really good - nice, simple, to the point, but also descriptive and no awkward constructions. Together, though, the flow from page to page has a beautiful logic and a rhythm that is missing from most children’s non-fiction board books. Especially the ones that, like this one, don’t try to rhyme, or use alliteration, etc.
Altogether, the conceit (narrow focus), photos (appealing and readable), and text (logical and organized) make it not just a pretty book with cute pictures of kids and nature, but a non-fiction board book that deserves to be called non-fiction - one that encourages kids to explore and think about the world around them on a level that they understand.
Charlie and Lola’s Numbers by Lauren Child
I found this counting book to be fairly cute, but it is definitely made for fans of the show. People, adults and children alike, that are unfamiliar with Charlie and Lola will find some of Lola’s names for everyday objects confusing. Which is kinda the opposite goal of a counting book for babies.
*So my semi-genius/prodigy niece who was speaking sentences at about 1 1/2*** and reading by 4? Spent a good chunk of the her second Christmas (she was just a few weeks shy of two) carrying around the board part of the Goodnight Moon board game and asking everyone to read it to her. When we tried to explain that we needed the book in order to read her the story, she was. so. not. getting. it. She understood the difference between pictures and books, but the whole part where the board folded like a book confused her, because she wasn’t yet completely getting that we knew what to say based on the print on the page - she was a couple months shy of true print awareness. She just knew that books resulted in people saying words, she liked words, and that books also had pictures and open and closed.
**Print awareness is an extremely important part of preparing young children to read, but (imho) playing with the idea of communicating through symbols is just as important - and until children are old enough to become aware of print, that means giving them other kinds of symbols to learn and use.
Technically, they do this anyway - kids learn corporate logos (McDonald’s arches, Disney castle) really young and really quickly because they are meant to be read at the level that young children are at developmentally. But it tends to be very one sided - they know what it means to them, but don’t have much opportunity to practice saying them back. Baby sign language, pictures that invite them to look more closely, and of course talking to young children, all help develop an understanding of language as something that is symbolic and intended for communication.
***True conversation she had with my sister, her mom, at about 18 months (er, more likely closer to 21), during an afternoon of running errands:
Niece: Where we going now?
[note that she has everything right about the sentence construction - with the exception of the absence the helping verb]
Sister/Mom: Mommy needs to get something from Target and then we are going home.
Niece: The big Target or the little Target?
[it needs to be mentioned here that “big Target” and “little Target” are not phrases that my sister used and that Niece picked up (although " [blank] or [blank]?" probably was something she heard a lot), Niece came up with that observation, description, and phrasing all on her own. So aside from "OMG how big is that sentence for such a little girl?" there is also the part where she is understanding both adjectives and sentence construction enough to mix them up and adapt them as needed.]
*blinks at her obviously changeling child*
Sister/Mom: The little Target.
*arrive at little Target. look for laundry detergent. Sister realizes that this Target doesn’t have the one they need*
Sister/Mom: Shoot.
Niece: What?
Sister/Mom: They don’t have the laundry detergent Mommy needs.
*pause*
Niece: You should have gone to the big Target, Mommy.
I kid you not. Now, granted, this was an especially verbose and sophisticated conversation for Niece at the time, thus why it stuck in my sister’s head and was recounted to everyone in the family. Still. Girl only said her first word about 9 months earlier, at just under 12 months. But even more than that, she clearly understood what big and little meant in very abstract ways - she totally got that the bigger Target wasn't just larger, but had more stuff.
yes, my niece is scary smart, and has been since she was was barely a year old and starting making baby signs - the CORRECT baby signs for the animal in front of her - that she had previously only seen illustrated in her baby sign language board books.
***********************
Ta da! There you have it. Well, the board book part of it anyway. Reviews of picture books, easy readers, and OMG actual novels (for adults, kids, and teens) forthcoming.