Wednesday, October 4, 2017

Read, Read, Read, said the Baby: Peek-a-Boo What?

I was pleased that the Begin Smart imprint was being revived by Sterling. These have been very popular in the past and many of our titles are started to disintegrate.

This one is a variation on the classic game of peek-a-boo. Each double spread repeats the refrain "Peek-a-boo" with the Os of the "boo" being die-cut holes on the second page. The second page is a full-page flap, which lifts to reveal a rhyming word and the second part of the picture. There isn't a specific theme to the rhymes. They include a blue fish on a lime-green background on the left, lift the flap to reveal more fish on a blue background the word "blue"; a sock on the left, lift the flap to reveal a "shoe", etc. The last page shows a photo of a lion family and the rhyming word is "who?" which I found a little confusing.

The pictures look like cut-paper collage and while they are not easy to guess, for this age group the fun and literacy comes from lifting and looking, while older children can practice their rhyming and association skills. This book was originally published in 2008, and I don't see anything that says it's been updated or revised.

The tagline has been changed slightly and now reads "Books for Brainy Babies", apparently jumping on the baby education wagon which I don't care for, but it will sell some parents. There is a brief letter to parents that talks about the benefits of reading with your child and suggestions for interacting with the book and a list on the back of early literacy skills used in this book.

Verdict: I'm happy to see these titles available again; they're an always popular series in our board book collection.

ISBN: 9781454920861; This edition published January 2017 by Sterling; Purchased for the library

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