Alexis Barad
HarperFestival (2008)
ISBN 9780061450396
Reviewed by Cayden (age 3.5) and Max (age 19 months) Aures and Mom for Reader Views (4/08)
“The World Around Me: Colors, Numbers and More!” is a colorful Fisher-Price board book that teaches numbers, colors, shapes, animals and other concepts. On each page there is a wheel to turn to change the main item being highlighted. For instance, one page has a tool box and when you turn the wheel a different tool appears in the middle along with the corresponding word for that item. There are three different pictures to turn it to on every page.
Max: While trying to turn the wheel: “Help! Help!”
Cayden: “It is hard to turn isn’t it Max. All the wheels are together. Maybe if we lift the page it will be easier.”
Cayden: “I like the gingerbread man. I like the page with shapes.”
Max: “Star! Circle!”
Cayden: “I like the telephone page too!”
Parent’s comments:
The book is filled with a lot of learning opportunities for babies up to preschoolers. It teaches the basics like colors and shapes but also teaches beginning reading because the word for the item is displayed whenever you change the highlighted picture.
My children found the turning the wheels to be a little difficult. All of the wheels are stacked on top of one another and then there is the back cover of the book which sticks out a little beyond the wheels. This makes it a little difficult to get in there and turn the correct wheel. Cayden got the hang of it fairly quick but Max needed help even after going through the book numerous times.
Some of the word choices in the book were also confusing to my children. For instance on one page there is a cat and the word that is printed with it is “kitty.” In a book such as this one whose aim is to be basic and educational I think that the word “cat” would be a better choice. It was confusing to a beginning reader such as Cayden who recognizes the word “cat” to see a different word printed there.
Despite these minor flaws, my children did both enjoy the book and Cayden spent quite awhile with it turning the wheels and trying to learn the words that appeared. “The World Around Me: Colors, Numbers and More!”is also very sturdy and will hold up for a long time.
No responses yet