The Children’s Book Review | November 19, 2017
Scholastic’s Early Learners have done it again with their new series, First Steps, geared toward babies and toddlers. These uniquely-shaped, interactive board and foam books, that feature photos of real babies, are great learning tools for your youngsters as they begin to navigate the world of books. I have strictly reviewed these not as an educator, but as a mother of an 18-month-old toddler. If my son’s wide-eyes and giant smile was any indication of the quality of these books as soon as I opened the box, then we have some winners!
This small, board book uses real photographs of all things winter including a picture of a cup of hot chocolate, a young girl ice skating, and a baby dressed all warm for the snow. Each page not only has the noun associated with each picture, but has that extra special touch and feel aspect. As the squirrel nibbles, youngsters can touch and feel the hair of its tail, and the warm fire has a piece of orange foil that crackles as it is touched.
Ages 0-3 | Publisher: Cartwheel Books | 2017 | ISBN-13: 978-1338161458
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This circular foam book grabs the attention of any youngster with the mirror on the front. Of course the smiling babies also help the appeal! As soon as you open the first page, one is able to fold open an even bigger mirror that can remain open as the baby “reads” through the rest of the book. Each additional, colorful page features an up-close look at the face of a baby with its adjoining page highlighting the baby’s ears, eyes, tongue, and hands.
Ages 0-2 | Publisher: Cartwheel Books | 2017 | ISBN-13: 978-1338161410
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The colors in this life-the-flap, foam book won’t be able to keep your young one away! Each page has a flap of a large object (ie. a ball, an apple, a rubber duck, and a teddy bear). Open the flap, and peek-a-boo, there is a baby! To the left of each flap, the page has a sentence describing the large object and other examples using large and colorful fonts.
Ages 0-2 | Publisher: Cartwheel Books | 2017 | ISBN-13: 978-1338167153
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As a larger, and more detailed version of the Touch and Feel: Winter book, this one is geared a tad more toward the young toddler in your life as it introduces the concept of counting all the way to 20. The rhyming throughout the book makes it fun for the adults to read aloud as the children can use their fingers to explore the different textures and open the various flaps for each number.
Ages 0-3 | Publisher: Cartwheel Books | 2017 | ISBN-13: 978-1338161465
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Each of these mini board books highlight a different concept: things that go, ABCs, on the farm, counting, opposites, animals, shapes, and colors. The small pages are filled with colorful photographs of everyday objects and the words are simple and to the point. These are a perfect fit for the little hands that are holding them. The collection of books can be filed away in the included cardboard carrying case to travel from room to room!
Ages 0-3 | Publisher: Cartwheel Books | 2017 | ISBN-13: 978-1338202434
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The book list A New, Interactive Series for Babies and Toddlers from Scholastic was curated by Anna C. Iacovetta, Ph.D.. Discover more books like the 3 Halloween board books listed here by following along with our reviews and articles tagged with Baby Books, Baby Shower Gifts, Board Books, and Books for Toddlers.