Beautiful Board Books!

Candlewick Press has done it again. They are consistently publishing gorgeous books for all ages, from babies to young adults. I received the following board books for free from the publisher in exchange for honest reviews. Both books are carefully worded with bright illustrations and sturdy crisp white covers and rounded corners. I was a little surprised by the difference in age listings; both seem interesting and appropriate for ages 0-5 to me.

Paper Peek Animals, written and illustrated by Chihiro Takeuchi has 34 pages and sits squarely at 7 ¾” x 7 ¾”. This book for ages 0-3 is separated into eight sections, one for each continent plus the oceans. For example, the first page says Africa. When you turn the cut-out elephant shape, the next page asks if you can find 1 lion, 2 giraffes, 3 camels, 4 zebras, and 5 ostriches. And so it goes throughout the book.

 

Great fun for little ones to seek and find the various animals native to each continent. Picture recognition, counting, and geography all rolled up into one beautiful book!

This is a Book of Shapes, written and illustrated by Kenneth Kraegel has 30 pages and measures 7 ¼” x 7 ½”. This unique book for ages 2-5 introduces a variety of shapes—circle, square, triangle, rectangle, diamond, star, oval, and octagon—all shown in woodgrain colors.

 

Throughout the book, humorous illustration spreads pop up here and there where you least expect them. This breaks up the lesson and lightens the mood with the silliness of these insertions.

Small children will enjoy anticipating the next funny interruption and searching for all the shapes in the last fully illustrated two-page spread.

All in all, you can’t go wrong with either of these lovely board book choices!