Official URL: www.silverdolphinbooks.com
Age Range: 3-8
List Price: $12.95
Rating:

Snappy Sounds Surprise Party is a delightful pop-up book with colorful cartoon-like illustrations and a cute story about the surprise birthday party of Tortoise. It shows all the fun and activities that occur at the party. It has a different pop-up on each page with a noise that goes with the picture. For example, the first page shows Parrot popping out the front door of the Snappy house with a party horn. The sound when you open that page is a party horn. There are also illustrations down the left side of the book of different items from the party (pizza, cupcakes, balloons). This adds a picture book element to the story and the other fun features that make this book a blast.

My 3-year-old daughter loves this book. She has spent cumulative hours on end turning the pages and enjoying the pop-up sounds and surprises on each page. Even though she can’t yet read, the book is engaging enough because of the bright pictures and the sounds. When I read the story to her, she is enthralled and listens to every word.

I personally found this book to be a fun read for little ones. The story has a nice cadence and rhyme, one of those books where the words stick in your head like a song when you’re done. After a few reads, you can almost do it without looking at the words.

I would have given this book five stars but I took one away for durability issues. The pop-ups are somewhat easy to tear at their bases, even with normal use. My daughter has been using this book very carefully for several months and already, one of the pop-ups is slightly detached from the book. Also, the second page just stopped making its party noise after several readings. She has not even used this book without my supervision so I know it has been handled with care. If a preschooler or toddler were allowed to play with this on his own, I doubt it would stay in mint condition for very long. The cover of the book is its strength. It is a thick hardback that shows no signs of wear or tearing at all.

Overall, the Snappy Sounds Surprise Party book is an awesome toy for young children. It would be fun to use when working up anticipation for your child’s own birthday party or a friend’s party. Aside from some problems with durability, it is a wonderfully executed story, picture book and sound party all rolled into one.