meagandowney's Full Review: Marion Dane Bauer - Toes, Ears, & Nose!
Argh. I hate it when I buy books that are destroyed by my child within hours, don't you? Toes, Ears, & Nose by Marion Dane Bauer is an underfunded attempt at child education and entertainment. My daughter is just over one year now, and while the content is appropriate for children between the ages of 10 months and 3 years, the format most certainly is not.
A Tear-the-Flap Book
This book features insanely bright, friendly cartoon renderings of children's bodies. On each page, your child can "lift" the flap to reveal what's hidden beneath the character's clothing. The belly button panel is about as risque as things get, but don't be surprised if your child lifts the flap right off of the page and crawls into the next room with it upon second or third reading.
I know that some books are meant to be shelved. I'm not stupid - but that can be difficult to control when multiple family members pull toys and books out for your baby to play with. Such was the case with Toes, Ears & Nose. When the box arrived from Amazon.com, I pulled out several books including this one and knew immediately that this would have to be one of those pain-in-the-neck, protected books that could only be read under close supervision. I put it up on the shelf only to be pulled down by the unsuspecting man of the house so that my baby could rip off the flaps so easily, it seemed as if they had been adhered to the page with saliva.
Peek-a-boo!
My daughter LOVES to play peek-a-boo, even at 13 months, so I liked the fact that this book is structured around peek-a-boo games while teaching babies to identify simple body parts. Still, there are a few problems with this book. For one, cartoons are rarely as engaging as actual photographs and this book is no exception. We'll get a lot more reading time out of our DK books just because they show actual babies and real babies like to look at real babies. Secondly, the body parts that are revealed don't actually look like body parts to small babies. A sea of undefined peach is supposed to resemble an elbow and a long, lazy, wavy line is supposed to resemble a hand. Poor effort on the part of the renowned Karen Katz (illustrator) in a book for wee ones.
At Least It's Cute
There's no denying the fact that the illustrations are super cute, and there are plenty of pages for children to turn and view. I just wish that it was more durable and practical for the target audience.
Toes, Ears & Nose!Board BookA classic lift-the-flap book by Marion Dan Bauer & Karen Katz, Toes, Ears, & Nose! doesn't fail to impress. With fingers a...More at Diapers.com
Youngsters can lift the flaps to discover different parts of a boy. With child-appealing language and striking, full-color collage paper illustrations...More at HotBookSale
Youngsters can lift the flaps to discover different parts of a boy. With child-appealing language and striking, full-color collage paper illustrations...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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