2 x 2 (by 2): Tuck Me In and In the Wild
Back when I was a librarian and not a parent, I was all “what is the DEAL with all these flappy, pop-up, pull-tab books? Don’t they know they’re just asking to be destroyed?” Then I had a child and I realized these books exist because kids (or at least my kid) lose their mind over these things. The flap! it flaps! Every! Single! Time!
Does that make me sound bitter? I’m not – I think it’s ridiculously cute to watch a tiny toddler open the flaps on a book or pull the tabs and giggle every time.
Each page Tuck Me In! shows an animal in bed and then you flip the covers over the animal to tuck him in. It’s a simple little concept with very little text and of course it was an enormous hit.
As for me, I couldn’t stop marveling that the library copy wasn’t torn to bits.
In the Wild was a winner in our house because it contained animals (Ella has high and exacting standards). I loved it for the gorgeous and unusual illustrations – the woodcut style is such a nice complement to the subject matter.
Each of the animals featured got a double-page spread and then a little verse or two about the animal. Some of the poems were a little cringe-worthy (an elephant is “delicate as lace”?), but others, like the brief, punchy giraffe poem were a perfect accompaniment to the images.
Even though I know my kids love them, I try to avoid those books. Because I know in the end my kids will tear them up. Plus I prefer to let my kids peruse their books unsupervised (unless I'm actually reading to them) and those don't lend themselves to that.
My mother in law, however, continues to buy them for my kids like every time she sees them. *sigh*
Oh lift the flap books!! How I love them if the flaps are actuallly sturdy, how I despise constantly repairing the unsturdy ones. Tuck me in sounds very cute though, we'll have to check it out.
Tuck Me In is a wonderful book! I reviewed it on my blog too. 🙂