Stocking Stuffer: Ho Ho Ho! by Roger Priddy

WITH A FLUFFY BEARD

AS WHITE AS SNOW,

HEAR SANTA LAUGH--

HO HO HO!

Tiny tots can get up close and personal with the symbols of the season, from touching Santa's cottony white beard to stroking a reindeer's velvety nose, in Roger Priddy's holiday Touch-And-Feel Alphaprints: Ho, Ho, Ho! (St. Martin's Press, 2015). With a die-cut cut-out on the cover for that white-as-snow beard on St. Nicholas' chin, this little board book goes on to give little ones some tactile fun, not only with a reindeer nose, but with sparkly, granular snowfall and a jolly snowman with a slippery, carroty nose.

Part of the Alphaprints series, this one features faces created from feel-able fingerprints to add to the fun, and ends with some merry penguin carolers singing "We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!"

Big Blue Monster:Bright Baby Noisy Monsters by Roger Priddy

BOB'S FIFTH EYE HAS SPOTTED SOMETHING SCARY IN THE LAKE!

A bunch of monsters are out for fun, each in his own way. Baxter, with one eye, heads out to the moon to visit three-eyed Freddy.  Chester loves to play the bongos, while Zac, who has lots of feet to tap, shows off  his shuffle-ball-change.

Then they all meet up with Bruno, Trixie, and Mike, who like to throw snowballs at their friends. But wait! There's more! Max, Zoe, and Bob, with five eyes each, spot an old favorite, Nessie, out in the lake.

It's an admittedly adorable bunch of creatures assembled in Roger Priddy's  board book, Bright Baby Noisy Monsters (St. Martin's Press), equipped with a big green button to press and trigger recorded monster giggles at the antics of this strange cast of characters. For the very youngest baby spooks on Halloween, pair this one with Fiona Watt's tactile board book, That's Not My Monster (Touchy-Feely Board Books) for a couple of treats for tots too little to go out on Halloween.

(Die)-Cut to the Chase: Where Does Love Come From? illustrated by Milena Kirkova

IT COMES FROM YOUR HEART! is the ultimate answer in Accord Publishing's diecut board book Where Does Love Come From? (Accord, 2011), which along the way allows for other engaging questions to be asked, if not answered.

Little fingers can locate and follow the cut-out hearts which lead to "answers," and offer the next little love teaser, queries such as whether love blooms in gardens, washes up on the waves, or blows upon the breeze.

A good choice as a lap book which reinforces recognition of the heart shape and colors displayed through cutouts on each page, as well as many other vocabulary-reinforcing images, this one offers tactile exploration as each page presents a new cut-out which leads to the question on the following page in sequence.

All these hearts, of course, lead back to the main question posed in the title. This book doesn't exactly answer its question (one probed by poets, philosophers, and recently physiologists alike) but it does provide some heart-y fun for youngsters along the way.