Price Tag: $10.95
Official URL: beginsmartbooks.com
Age Range: 0-6 Months
Rating:

This bath book is a colorful and water-proof book of sounds for a young child. Kids love it when the parent reads through a book, making the sounds that are shown in each picture, either reading the words, or finding the actual object to make the sound with. A little bird-shaped squeaker matches the cover, and makes a squeaky bird sound when you squeeze it.

ILLUSTRATIONS

This book has seven illustrations (eight if you count the cover). These illustrations are colorful and show: A bird (on the cover) saying “tweet tweet”, a set of colorful keys going “Jingle!”, a curly-haired boy clapping his hands “Clap!”, A bell going “Ring!”, a duck saying “Quack!”, a cat saying “Meow!”, a little baby in bed with “Shhh”, and the rear cover shows a dog saying “Woof!”. All of the illustrations are done in a  style similar to that pictured on the cover: a sort of sketchy style that reminds me of drawings done in chalk, with black outlines that give the drawings definition.

SKILL DEVELOPMENT

The publisher lists the “skill development” aspects of this book as being: visual and auditory activity and stimulation, focusing, tracking and scanning, object recognition, and parent-child bonding.

SAFETY & CONSTRUCTION

This book is made of a “safer” form of vinyl (PEVA) instead of the toxic PVC. This means that the book is tear-and-tooth resistant, posing fewer choking hazards than board books. PEVA is also resistant to mildew and is water-proof, allowing this book to be used in the bath. It is also an ideal book for a sick child, as it can be wiped down with antibacterial wipes.

BOTTOM LINE

This type of a “sound” book has been done a million times before, but this book is still well worth buying just because of its durability and the fact that you can play with it in the bath. It takes a classic and improves upon it. The bird squeaker is a bit of an odd addition that you can tuck into the book when you’re not using it.. But it seems to get lost pretty quickly. It’s cute, kids love it, but it seems like an unecessary addition to the book that doesn’t quite fit into place.