The Tickle Book

The Tickle Book with pop up surprises

Author: Ian Whybrow 
Illustrator: Axel Scheffler

This book, together with The Bedtime Bear by the same author and illustrating duo, are by far the most loved and well read books in my house. So well loved in fact, I've bought them three times over (each!) and since the summer days have now befallen, the kids being at home ( sheltering from the summer rain) so much more, I find myself putting in my order for a fourth copy of The Tickle Book tonight...and really, they're pretty robust for 'pop up' books! Nonetheless, the absolute excitement and joy a good old fashioned lift-the-flaps, pull -the- tab, pop-up book seems to bring (any age child, in fact the older they get, the more excited by the pop-up aspect they seem to be), dumbfounds me. The pure suspense of the pull, for my seven year old, has him in squeals of delight every time. 

I can't recommend these two books more highly, they're such a pleasure. Bright, loads of fun, very quirky ( why is a lizard in a blizzard? Why is there a rabbit on a motorbike?) , ah the countless questions I have for the author...situational madness ' a mouse motel' and a ' lynx carrying drinks' to a picnic, brings humour with every read. And yet as each book follows a jouney to tickling bedtimes, the menagerie of characters and places all seem to make bizarre sense, fuelling the excitement further. The rhymes are very catchy, with a staccato beat and optimal use of rhetoric. There's also a play on phonics that's a preamble to the now very popular Kes Gray 'Oi' books ( e.g. Oi Frog!) , so an 'owl in a towel' and a 'snake' with a 'cake'. The word choice of the author speaks to toddlers beautifully, plenty of 'hello' and farmyard / animal noises. These are the type of silly rhyme books kids really remember, with invitations and instructions to tickle, close eyes, say goodnight. As such, fantastic books for helping build attachments, for bonding, perfect for adopters. My older children currently love reading these to the younger ones, squeals and giggles of laughter amount, hence the wear and tear on the tabs. I also like that there's lots of different lift flap, pull tabs and card wheel arrangements in the book, it really does make for a 'pop up book  full of surprises.' Big thumbs up from me, but buy three copies at least as you'll get through them, and sadly these books are no longer on constant sale in the big supermarkets, like a few years ago. 

Dear Zoo

Author and Illustrator: Rod Campbell
Publisher: Campbell Books, first published 1982 by Abelard-Schuman Ltd

Tonight it's the turn of famous toddler board book 'Dear Zoo'. Simple, repetitive and formulaic, so perfect for babies and toddlers. A letter to the zoo returns eight surprise animals hidden in crates, boxes and baskets. The receiver is fussy and sends the animals back one-by-one based on their common characteristic, so, the camel was grumpy, the frog was jumpy and the dog? The puppy is perfect so the receiver keeps him. 

This is about as straightforward as a flap-book for toddlers gets, with pretty much the same sentence on every page ( about writing to the zoo) and then an opportunity to sneak a peak under the flap to understand the big reveal. Adjectives used are appropriate and characterise the animal hidden well. Our children provide their own sound effects for certain adjectives so 'grumpy' is accompanied by a huff, or for certain animals, so 'lion' is followed by a roar. For toddlers this is great as it invites joining in. I'm not sure that all families would agree that a puppy is 'perfect' though, especially one eating furniture or weeing where it shouldn't. 

Here's a slightly stern reading from the Book Trust:  A reading of Dear Zoo