Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Lift the Flap: First 100 Words
Novelty Board Book
For ages 2 to 4
Scholastic, 2015 ISBN: 978-0545903158
In the past, learning was considered to be a necessary chore or trial that had to be endured. Children learned the names of things, their numbers, the alphabet, and their colors because they were told to do so. These days we tend to take a gentler approach. We want to make the learning process as enjoyable as possible, and so we create tools to achieve that goal. Children watch television programs to learn new things, they listen to audio books, they play games on tablets and computers, and they also explore engaging and entertaining books.
This novelty book makes learning words fun because it combines lift-the-flaps, photos, and interactive prompts to make the learning journey interesting. Each page in the book focuses on a category, which are: toys, pets, clothes, food, farm animals, wild animals, out and about, things that go, bath and bed, opposites, colors, and numbers.
For every category we are shown a collection of colored squares that contain a photo. The squares are actually lift-the-flaps that we can lift up. Underneath each flap there is another photo and some text.
For example, on the first page we are presented with pictures of toys. Under the photo of the toy telephone we find a picture of a little girl talking on a phone and she is saying “hello.” Under the photo of the wooden building bricks we see a photo of a tower that was built using some bricks. We are asked, “Can you build a tower like this?”
On the colors page we see seven colorful circles. The photos on the circles show a red rose, a blue tractor, an orange fish, a yellow duckling, some pink shoes, a purple butterfly, and a green dinosaur. Under these pictures there are more photos, each one of which shows a little child. Under the purple butterfly is a picture of a little girl who is wearing a purple outfit and we are invited to “Point to the purple hat.” All the other pictures under the flaps invite us to find something in the photo.
This book will help little children to learn the names of things and to identify words. In addition, it also gives grownups a wonderful means to share some special book time with their child.
