Hellobee

Juliet loves books.  Her favorite thing to do every day is to raid Drake’s bookshelf and immerse herself in his books…literally.

At bed time Juliet loves rocking with me as I read to her, but because of her age and attention span it’s hard to get her to sit and listen to all books. Over time as I’ve read from Drake’s shelves, I’ve come to see which books seem to grab her attention. For the most part all of the books she likes and wants me to read again and again have some kind of flaps or movement or pop out. I am starting to look into more books of that nature to get her to keep her engaged and continue with her love of reading.

1) Sniff Lick Munch – I have blogged in the past of our love of Matthew Van Fleet and his stories. The Sniff Lick Munch series was one of the first books I ever read to Juliet when she was small. She was always fascinated by the movements as she laid in my arms when I read. Now that she is older, she loves touching the pages to explore all the textures. I think these books helped her develop the love and fascination she has for books these days. I am hoping he comes out with something new soon since we own almost all of his books, and they are so well loved several are literally falling apart.

2) My First Computer – An adorable book filled with tabs and flaps all designed to look like a laptop. I have it stashed away for Christmas since I know it will be such a hit with Juliet, and possibly even Drake. There are interactive tabs and slides on every page and I am hoping this one will provide hours of enjoyment for Juliet.

3) Where’s Spot Series  – I’ve had this book since Drake was small and he has never really taken to it, but when Juliet found it she was mesmerized. She loves opening all the little flaps and can easily amuse herself for long stretches of times just flipping through the book over and over again. She giggles and squeals when we read it together and claps at the end when they find Spot. Since this is a series and all of the books are similar in concept — lifting flaps to find Spot — I am thinking of getting a few more for Juliet.

4) Have You Ever Tickled a Tiger – There are a lot of touch books out there, but the “That’s Not My… series is one of my favorites. I find the characters more unique and the textures to be more varied than a lot of other books for this age range (sticky octopus, feathery ostrich), and the illustrations are very sweet. I have been scouring to find another book as great as this one and have come up short, but I hope to find something similar by Christmas.

5) Baby Einstein Mirror Me  – While simple in concept, this book is a definitely favorite of Juliet’s. Her face lights up when she sees the cover and she knows immediately what to do when I turn each page. There is a mirror on every page and the characters ask you do something different in each one. Though Juliet is still too little to follow the instructions, I do feel she understands some of the concepts when I read and mimic them. After reading this book a few times with her, she started to imitate me when I would stick out my tongue or puff my cheeks. Since this has been a big issue for us with her speech delay, I was thrilled to see her connect the idea of copying me and watching herself in the mirror as she did the actions. I try to read this one every few days to make sure she is continuing with this progress.

6) Sesame Street Elmo’s ABCs  – Even though Juliet has never seen Sesame Street before, she loves Elmo. There is just something magical about that little red guy that attracts all children. Drake has a few picture stories with Elmo in them, and those are one of the few non-interactive books that Juliet would flip through daily, to get her Elmo fix. When I stumbled upon this book, it was like I found the Holy Grail of books for Juliet. Not only did it have Elmo and flaps, both things she loves, but it is also teaches the ABCs. Drake has a lot of fun with this book too since he loves the ABCs, and he will often lift the flaps and tell Juliet what is under them.

7) Pat the Bunny – A classic book I had even when I was young, it’s a great one for interacting with baby. I like that each page is different with some being flaps, some being touching, etc. The bunny has actually come out with some new flap books including another favorite of both Drake & Juliet, Peekaboo Bunny and Bunny’s Garden. For Christmas I was thinking of getting Pat the Cat since Juliet has liked the Bunny so much. I hope it’s as entertaining to her as the original has been.

8) Peter the Rabbit Pop Up – When Drake got very interested in Beatrix Potter stories last year, I bought this one on sale. Peter the Rabbit is a bit of a long story for a little one of Juliet’s age, but with the pop ups and movement slides she really does become engaged. Even though she is playing with the pages more as I read to Drake, I think it benefits her to hear longer stories and more complicated words. There seem to be quite a few other stories by Beatrix Potter done this way including Benjamin Bunny that I’m considering getting for Drake for Christmas, so we can continue to read longer stories together as a family.

9) Look At Me Books – We don’t have any of these yet, but on an outing to the book store once Juliet was fascinated by them.  I’m not sure if it’s because the shape is so different or that the cover illustrations are really adorable, but she handled the book very happily in the stroller for quite some time to allow me time to browse with Drake. Drake also really liked the book and played around with them almost as figures.

10) Pop Up Peekaboo – Drake was given a few of these books for his birthday when he was younger, and they have continually engaged him and Juliet. She loves pulling open the flaps to see the animals unfold from their hiding spots. I have been eyeing this one in the series because it’s both a pop up and a touch and feel book.

11) Sound books – I bought this Eric Carle sound book for our road trip to Disney world. It kept her mesmerized and entertained for so much of the ride, that I am thinking of getting her a few more to keep in handy for restaurants and outings. Her physical therapist actually uses these books a lot in therapy with her as a way to interest her to get her to move, which works very well.

12) Dear Zoo – We have two copies of this book, both ripped and torn, because Drake also loved this one when he was Juliet’s age. It has 5 star reviews and is one of Amazon’s best seller books for kids, so clearly there is a reason why kids enjoy this one so much. Juliet can happily flip through this one on her own and is just as happy to read with me or Drake. The added bonus is when big brother reads, he adds animal noises in to help make the story that much more fun!

13) Guess Who Series – This is another series where we have quite a few books. I originally got a few for Drake when Juliet was born because he also loves flap books. We would try to guess the animal before turning the flap, and he loved seeing the big pop out of all of them at the end of the story. Juliet ripped a few of the flaps in her enthusiasm when she found them, and now they are her favorites to peruse.

14) Open the Barn Door  – This is actually a very small book. For grown ups it might be a bit too tiny but for little ones, especially Juliet’s age, it’s the perfect size. Juliet loves walking around the house with this one I think because of how well it fits in her hands. She will often travel from room to room with it, plopping down from time to time to open and play with the flaps before moving on again with it. The illustrations are really cute and it’s a good way to teach about animal homes, sounds, and names.

15) Bizzy Bears Big Building Book  – This is one of Juliet’s favorite books to read recently. It’s new and there are quite a few others in the series, as well as another series with pull tabs that’s very similar and also keeps her quite happy. The illustrations are cute and the stories and tabs are really cute at times.  I really like the series and hope to get some more for her soon since she is enjoying the ones we have so much.

What are some of your favorite interactive books?