I've been on the road.
I stopped by The Strand, a large independent bookstore in NYC, to look at their board book offerings. The 18 miles of aisles were packed with grown-ups and kids and me, plump with batting to fight the cold and windy streets. I barely fit! I shopped with haste. Here is what I found.
The Noisy Book (2012) by Soledad Bravi is a near-perfect word learning book for ones and twos. Why near? Research suggests young 1-year-olds learn best from photographs. Bravi's page design--one object per 2-page spread--holds constant, assuring a single point of view for book talk. A colorful patchwork of thumbnail prints, drawn from The Noisy Book's interior, blankets the inside front and back pages, creating a wonderful opportunity for point-and-label play and word review.
I spied a board edition of The House in the Night (2011) by Susan Marie Swanson and Caldecott Medal winner Beth Krommes. The book's gentle cadence and warm glow make it a perfect bedtime read from day one.
Steve Light's brightly illustrated Trains Go (2012) is long (sizewise) on noisy locomotion. He captures a freight train's clang, the speed train's whoosh, and a steam train's clammer to a t!
Cut-outs and color contrasts teach the look and feel of a circle, triangle, square, and crescent in Yum! (2013). Ones and twos can relate to the author/illustrator's palette/palate of shapely foods: A banana, a carrot, an ice cream cone, a square of cheese, and more. Older twos and threes can digest shape names. Moms and dads, point out simple shapes at mealtime. A width-wise slice of celery? Smile.
I stopped by The Strand, a large independent bookstore in NYC, to look at their board book offerings. The 18 miles of aisles were packed with grown-ups and kids and me, plump with batting to fight the cold and windy streets. I barely fit! I shopped with haste. Here is what I found.
The Noisy Book (2012) by Soledad Bravi is a near-perfect word learning book for ones and twos. Why near? Research suggests young 1-year-olds learn best from photographs. Bravi's page design--one object per 2-page spread--holds constant, assuring a single point of view for book talk. A colorful patchwork of thumbnail prints, drawn from The Noisy Book's interior, blankets the inside front and back pages, creating a wonderful opportunity for point-and-label play and word review.
Cut-outs and color contrasts teach the look and feel of a circle, triangle, square, and crescent in Yum! (2013). Ones and twos can relate to the author/illustrator's palette/palate of shapely foods: A banana, a carrot, an ice cream cone, a square of cheese, and more. Older twos and threes can digest shape names. Moms and dads, point out simple shapes at mealtime. A width-wise slice of celery? Smile.
I remember the Strand from the days when I lived in NYC. Many moons ago... I love The House in the Night. It's amazing how many picture books end up as board books.
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DeleteI should know better than to reply to a comment this early in the morning! Spelling errors!!! I wanted to thank you for posting about Sandy Relief and Kate Messner's Kid-Lit Cares, last November, at My Brain on Books. I would not have known about it, otherwise.
DeleteYou're welcome, Linda! That was such a wonderful way to raise money for Sandy relief.
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