Easter Hunt! Eggs Are Everywhere by Wendy Kirwan

An Easter egg hunt in a book for tots?

Just the right size for small hands and fingers, there is an interactive board book that can introduce little ones to the fun of the traditional Easter egg hunt. In Eggs Are Everywhere: (Baby's First Easter Board Book, Easter Egg Hunt Book, Lift the Flap Book for Easter Basket) (Chronicle Books, 2020), Wendy Kirwan's eye-catching artwork brings spring-themed backgrounds and the beauty of hand-stenciled Easter eggs in the style of Eastern Europe to every page.

Easy-to-turn wheels reveal lift-the-flap pages with the possibility of colored eggs hiding in many places. Also there are furry bunnies and other small critters, along with all sorts of other signs of spring on each page--as well as a freckled kid to keep youngsters company as they search through the pages for hidden Easter Eggs. It's a simple and sweet virtual Easter egg hunt for toddlers and tots.

Says Kirkus Reviews "... the moving parts are fun, and the illustrations are beautiful!"

"...Its interactivity should provide plenty of guessing-game enjoyment for the youngest readers," adds Publishers Weekly.

Critter Counter: Five Little Bugs by Shannon Hays

Babies love bugs, but busy moms don't always want their little ones to touch them. But in Vicky Harvey's and Shannon Hays' 5 Little Bugs (Make Believe Ideas, 2019), little fingers get the touch-and-feel fun of touching the five buggy critters in the Busy Bees series of board books for the youngest book fanciers.

In Five Little Bugs, little ones get to touch the textured creatures visible through the cut-outs in the cover.

Five little busy bugs
Doing all their chores,
Bee buzzes off
And that leaves... four

And with each page turn, each critter takes off exploring, leaving one less to see and touch, until they are all gone, tired and ready for their own buggy bed for the night, in this small board book by Shannon Hays and Vicky Harvey, made just for small hands to hold with fun for the eye as well as a tactile treat for tiny fingers.

Count 'Em! Ten Little Pumpkins by Rosie Greening

TEN Little Pumpkins are growing in a line,

Then the farmer picks one, and that leaves...

NINE!

But these ten pumpkins don't seem to want to go to market!

What's a poor farmer to do, with a patch of persnickety pumpkins who seem to want to bounce, roll, and jump away on their own merry way?

These clever little pumpkins conspire to escape from the farmer's crate. One hitches a ride on a horsey, and another pumpkin performs a magic trick and makes himself disappear. A spooky ghost grabs one, a scary skeleton snatches another, and... soon they're all gone....

But not for long. After all, little pumpkins just want their chance to shine, and they are not about to miss their big scene...

Glowing all together on the night of Halloween!

Rosie Greening's new version of that staple fall counting book, Ten Little Pumpkins (Make Believe Ideas, 2018) has a few special touches that set it apart from the others, from the shiny black background which sets off Lara Ede's bright personalized pumpkins right down to the sparkly and trendy reversing sequins that allow the golden pumpkin on the cover to change from a carved face to one that spells out BOO! Jaunty illustrations and a rhyming countdown that begs to be sung makes this new holiday number book more than just another pretty pumpkin face in the crowd!

Hair-Raising Tale! I Double-Dare You! by Paul Battault

ARE YOU BRAVE ENOUGH TO SCARE AWAY THE PESKIEST NIGHTMARE MONSTERS?

Youngsters take the dare to touch and feel assorted monsters--an ogre with a wiry beard and great big teeth and a wrinkly, warty witch--and whisk them both away with a wave of the hand.

Kids can tickle spooky ghosts and warn away howling wolves.  They can face down a fire-breathing dragon and squish a giant squid's tentacles until he take it on the lam!

But where did they GO?

Are they in this closet?

I DOUBLE DARE YOU TO LOOK THROUGH THIS KEYHOLE!

Fear not, kids! You've scared them into falling asleep inside this nice safe closet, in Paul Battault's funny touch-and-feel board book, I Double Dare You! (Twirl Books, 2018). With appropriately semi-scary monsters created by artist Charlotte Ameling, this toy-and-movable book preps tots for the scary season with jolly critters with plenty of tactile appeal in a virtual tour of mixed monsters.

Time for Beddy-Bye! Goodnight, Curious George

THE SUN IS SETTING, SLEEPY HEAD.

Even naughty little monkeys need to go to bed.

But Curious George doesn't hurry to that good night. First he carefully puts his toys away, even his beloved red ball. The Man with the Yellow Hat makes him a warm bubbly bath to get him clean from toes to nose. Then--it's time for PJs!

There's a bite to eat for bedtime, and then teeth to brush, and then a big hop into bed with just enough time for a story book or two before a last lullaby song lulls George, snuggling his Teddy, to sleep.

With added illustrations by Greg Paprocki, Good Night, Curious George padded board book (touch-and-feel) (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2018) is a soothing way to say goodnight, with plenty of touch-and-feel and lift-the-flaps fun for youngsters along the way. With the iconic illustrations of Margret and H. A. Rey, Curious George leads the way to sweet dreams.

Lost in the Cretaceous! Pop-Up Peekaboo! Baby Dinosaur by Clare Lloyd

Baby Dinosaur is not lost. He knows right where he is.

It's Mommy Tyrannosaurus Rex who is missing!

This is serious.

WHERE, OH WHERE CAN SHE BE?

She's pretty big! Maybe Baby T. Rex can find her hiding behind that big rock!

But no! Who's that?

It's Baby Alamosaurus! He's clearly cuddly and friendly, but he's not Baby T.'s Mommy!

Baby T. Rex scuttles on, getting a little worried. What's that he sees? A nest of dinosaur eggs? And who's hiding there? Baby Acheroraptor?

"You are not MY mother!"

It might be fun to stay and play, but Baby T. Rex is getting hungry, so he moves on. He leaves no stone unturned but finds only Baby Triceratops! Now he's hungry and frustrated. But what's that he hears? Is it a munch and a crunch? But behind that big log is Baby Ankylosaurus, who's already found his lunch!

And then... Is that a familiar ROAR? Quick! Look inside that cave!

Mommy T. Rex is definitely hiding among the Hadrosaurids, in Clare Lloyd's delightful little lift-the-flap book, Pop-up Peekaboo! Baby Dinosaur (Dorling Kindersley, 2018). Taking a page from the plot of P.D. Eastman's ever-popular Are You My Mother? (Bright & Early Board Books(TM)), Lloyd introduces curious toddlers to popular dinosaurs as Baby T. Rex seeks his mother through her brand-new toy-and-movable board book in which each double-page spread features a surprise with another baby dino behind every flap. Illustrator Peter Minister's baby cretaceous critters are as cute as can be while still easily recognizable as what they are, portrayed with characteristic humps and bumps and spikes and even the colored feathers of their species. This board-book is a must-read for little dino lovers, a fun way to learn some prehistory along the way to some jolly surprises. Quips Kirkus Reviews, "Nature, plush in tooth and claw."

But....? Never Touch a Monster by Rosie Greening

NEVER TOUCH A MONSTER!

No, not even if they smile and look perfectly harmless and cheery!

Don't you dare touch that bumpy, lumpy, tickly tummy on that guy. You can't trust a monster to be altogether well-behaved. Any monster that you meet might look upon you as a treat to munch for lunch.

No matter how tempting his squeezy, squishy silicone skin is, just don't do it....

EXCEPT IN THIS BOOK.

Rosie Greening's Never Touch a Monster (Make Believe Ideas) defies its own advice, with plenty of silicone parts that tempt small fingers to try them out for a tactile experience.  Artist Stuart Lynch's googly eyes and snaggly monster mouth will not deter tots from touching each page in the jolly board book. Other books by these creators for curious tots include Never Touch a Dragon and Never Touch a Dinosaur!

Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail And... (This Is) Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter

This is Peter Rabbit!

It's a shaped story book, complete with Peter's industrious siblings, Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail, busy filling their baskets, and his partner in rascally radish nibbling, cousin Benjamin Bunny.

Peter ventures out into the forbidden field of Mr. McGregor's gooseberry bushes for some adventures, but returns to his home burrow when it's time to say goodnight, in this new edition of Beatrix Potter's popular bunny tale.

It's a sturdy board book, a simple version of the classic story, and a crib toy, all in one, in Peter Rabbit Large Shaped Board Book (Frederic Warne, 2018 Am. ed.), with  Potter's delightful illustrations with all their soft water-colored appeal. This is one bedtime story that goes along for nighty-night time.

Yikes! Stripes! Bumblebee Boy Loves... by David Soman and Jacky Davis

What does Bumblebee Boy drive?

...THE BEEMOBILE... THE FASTEST CAR IN THE WORLD!

There's a new caped crusader on the job.. He's got the striped shirt. He's got the boots, the mask, and the cape..., and he's ready to BUZZ!

He can leap (block) cities in a single bound.

He can save his little brother from a monster (who look a lot like the family cat)!

If he has to, he can even read his little brother Owen a story that banishes the bedtime blues.

Who is that masked marvel? In Jacky Davis' and David Soman's new board book, Bumblebee Boy Loves... (Dial Books, 2017), preschoolers who love their best-selling Ladybug Girl series have a new character to follow--her neighborhood friend Sam. With a three-dimensional die-cut cover and Soman's charming illustrations, there's a lot to love in this pair of adventurous boys. Says Kirkus Reviews, "A sweet addition to this growing series about would-be superheroes."

Trim the Tree Time! Under the Christmas Tree by Gabriela Climo

PUT LIGHTS AND STARS ON THE CHRISTMAS TREE!

What tot doesn't want to "help" decorate the family Christmas tree--even before he or she can reach higher than the lowest branch?

It's a temptation to let the littlest ones get in on the holiday fun, and Gabriela Climo's little pull-the-tab board book gives toddlers and preschoolers a safe way to preview the festivities, beginning with the cover, where a slide tab allows them to brighten up the Christmas tree all by themselves, as bright lights, colorful ornaments, and a topper star pop into sight on an evergreen tree.

And there's more tab fun--putting a face on the snowman and putting a letter to Santa into its envelope, as well as moving Santa's sleigh through the nighttime sky.

And of course, when that Christmas Eve sky darkens, it's time for tots to turn off the lights in the house. And that means that it's also time for youngsters to close their eyes and sleep tight while Santa's boots come into view as they drop down the chimney.

And there are even surprises in store on Christmas morn. What's in that package? Open the box to see something fun and furry, in author-illustrator Climo's clever new little toy and movable book, Under the Christmas Tree (Sterling Books, 2017), a perfect little surprise for a favorite little one for pre-Christmas giving or a stocking stuffer for youngsters still new to the season.

Follow the Winter Trail: Winter Wonderland by Dawn Sirett

FOLLOW THE SPARKLING, SNOWY TRAILS!

An emperor penguin lives in a cold place called Antarctica.

With loops, swirls, zigzags, and familiar shapes, Follow the Trail: Winter Wonderland (Dorling Kindersley, 2017) entices youngsters with assisting adults to trace the track to lead the fluffy penguin chick where he needs to learn to go--down a snowy slope to slide into the sea for his first swimming lesson, along the way providing lessons in penguin parenting styles.

But what's that in the die-cut opening at the top of the page?

It's an Arctic fox, and it is time to trace the fox kits, whose coats turn white in winter to conceal them in their snowy landscapes. Youngsters are encouraged to use their fingers to trace the lumpy, bumpy, glittery, and shiny trails that deliver the young foxes, polar bears, and reindeer who need to learn where and what to do in winter. Plenty of tactile and visual experiences are to be found in this third title in DK's Follow the Trail series, even offering an exit exam in which young readers follow the correct trail to each animal's destination, whether it be the sea, the bears' cave, the foxes' den--or the reindeers' mossy grazing grounds--and perhaps a place with a sleigh that needs pulling?

Others in this charming board book series include Follow the Trail: Farm, Follow the Trail: Trucks, (DK Follow the Trail) Follow the Trail: Baby Animals, Follow the Trail: Baby Dinosaurs, and Follow the Trail: Bugs for preschoolers on the grow and on the go.

Beach Fun: Llama Llama Sand & Sea by Anna Dewdney

It's high summer--the time that parents and kids go down to the sea in flip-flops and swimsuits.

LLAMA LLAMA AT THE BEACH,

SUNBLOCK AND ONE TOWEL EACH.

Mama has hopes of reading her book under the beach umbrella.

Little Llama wants to build a BIG sand castle.

He wants to make BIG splashes in the water.

But he gets a surprise when he finds out he shares the sea with fish and crabs and seashells with live things inside!

Anna Dewdney's Llama Llama Sand and Sun (Grossett And Dunlap) has touch-and-feel pages, with even sunglasses for Little Llama that reflect the little reader. The fish are scaly and the water splashes are sparkly, the crabs are--crabby and the sand is--scratchy, all described in Dewdney's familiar couplets and depicted in her charming illustrations in this little board book that shows so much fun in the sun. A jolly and charming book for kids about to have their first beach visit!

Track It Down! Follow the Trail: Farm (Take a Peek) by Dawn Strett

USE YOUR FINGER TO FOLLOW...

THE TINY TRACTOR AND THE TINY ANIMALS

ALONG THE GLITTERY TRAIL.

With that hard-to-resist invitation, youngsters are invited to follow the sparkly green ribbon linking them to those familiar farm animals and implements. There are plenty of both for most preschoolers in this title, from a big honking machine like the red tractor to cute tiny farm animals to find when they follow the tactile trail.

As an additional inducement, there is a die-cut peephole on each page with a clue to what they will see on the following page to lead youngsters on with each turn of the sturdy pages--a duckling, a little yellow chick, a sheep, a mama chicken in the cozy coop described simply as a little house with nest boxes, and contented cows. An added trick reverses the way from back to front by following the various insects strategically placed to be visible through the die-cut take-a-peek holes.

DK book designers are past masters of putting stuff on the page for maximum appeal, and in this board book in their Follow the Trail series, Follow the Trail: Farm (Dorling Kindersley, 2016), young children will be led irresistibly through the book while working on their vocabulary of farm animals and insect names and equipage of the typical farm while also developing hand-to-eye coordination and making some animal sounds along the way. This is an appealing book in a engaging series for home or early childhood education purposes that leads the child toward independent individual interaction with a book.

Some other books in this toy-and-movable book series are Follow the Trail: Trucks, Follow the Trail Wild Animals, Follow The Trail: Baby Animals, and Follow the Trail: Baby Dinosaurs, showing the way to meet the many proclivites of preschoolers.

It's Not the Yellow Brick Road, Dorothy! Follow the Trail: Baby Dinosaurs (Take a Peek) by Dawn Strett

CHASE THE BABY DINOSAURS AS THEY STOMP ALONG THE GLITTERY TRAIL.

KEEP YOUR FINGER ON THE LINE. LOOP AROUND, AROUND, AROUND. ZIGZAG...!

Preschoolers are always on the trail in search of dinosaur data; that's why there are so many dino books for the early childhood education crowding the market and shelves. And here comes Dorling Kindersley Press (a.k.a, DK) with another one just made for the preschool trade.

All their favorite dinos are there in all their juvenile charm--a baby Allosaurus, Diplodocus, Styracosaurus, and one newcomer to the lexicon from China, Tuojiangosaurus, a worthy entry with spikes down his backbone and right down to the tip of the big, strong tail he uses for whacking his enemies. But don't worry; there are no frightful dino-fights in Dawn Strett's and Charlotte Millner's little toy and movable board book suitable for toddler and preschooler's yen for more of those prehistoric reptilia.

With die-cut Take-A-Peek peepholes on each page that help young experts predict the next critter on the following page and a sparkly green ribbon to finger-trace the story line, kids will add to their dino vocabulary and gain some facts about each one in series, and kids will likely want to return often to the book to "read" it for themselves. In author Dawn Strett's and artist Charlotte Millner's Follow the Trail: Baby Dinosaurs (Dorling Kindersley, 2017), little dinosaurs are done with just enough detail for the youngest dinosaur devotee and set against DK's trademark white pages in eye-catching spot-art double-page -spread style. There's even a "quiz" at the end which challenges little ones to match the juvenile critters with their adult versions in a sort of junior appendix just right for the preschool dino expert.

Other titles in this engaging series include Follow the Trail Wild Animals and Follow the Trail: Bugs.

Mind Your Ps & Qs! AlphaBlock by Christopher Francescelli

Let us look at LETTERS!

Christopher Francescelli's small board book, Alphablock (Abrams Appleseed Books) gives small children a chance to learn their letters--in several ways. Large, die-cut block letters, attached at the central scene are there to be looked at and touched from all angles as they overlay one word that demonstrates their sound.

A is, of course, for APPLE, and behind the full-page-sized letter itself, little readers can see a little wicker basket filled with apples.

B is for BALLOON, fat, round, and curvy. D is for DOG, a little DACHSHUND, an elongated wiener dog who practically wiggles off the page.

Each letter gets its own noun, even that one that activates the ticklebox of little kids, U is for UNDERWEAR! All except for that unruly Z, which ZOOMS right off the page.

Illustrator Peskimo offers the young reader thick cut-out block capital letters that can be experienced as the initial letter of words or as pure shape, with sharp points, squared-off bases, and triangles, circles, semi-circles, and angles to be explored tactilely with the fingertips, making use of two senses to help the learning process. Behind the letters themselves, artist Peskimo offers old-fashioned vignettes, temptingly partly revealed behind the letters--a hammer, a well-tended garden, even an octopus, some predictable, some unexpected. "A sharply designed package," says Publishers Weekly.

Companion early learning books include Countablock (Alphablock) Cityblock (Alphablock) and Dinoblock (Alphablock)

Bugging the Bunny! Easter Bug by David Carter

SPRING HAS SPRUNG AND LEFT WINTER BEHIND.

HOW MANY EASTER BUGS CAN YOU FIND?

Why should bunnies and chicks have all the fun? All bedecked in a fresh edition, master paper sculptor David A Carter's  popular Easter Bugs : A Springtime Pop-up by David A Carter (Little Simon, 2015) gives his fantastical bugs a chance to pop up and surprise young book lovers. Hiding behind or inside colorful Easter eggs are such imaginative critters as the Shiny Raindrop Bug, The Fleecy-Touchy-Feely Chick-Chick Bug, the Busy Brown Buzzing Bug, and... Wait!

WHO IS IN THE JEWELED EGG THAT WILL MAKE YOU SQUIRM?

THE SLIPPERY EASTER WORM!

(CAN YOU SLIP HIM OUT?)

The entire creepy-crawly crew reprise their appearances with a gloriously constructed open-weave pop-out Easter Basket filled with Easter bugs behind every egg-shaped flap, with a challenge to name and count them. Here's one Easter basket filler that is actually good for tots and that will be around long after the pastel jelly beans and sugary peeps are past their prime.

Spring Forward! Happy Spring, Chirp! by Satoshi Iriyama

Spring has sprung, and little peeper Chirp springs into action when Mama Hen asks him to take a basket of fresh flowers to Auntie Duck's birthday party. With a peep and a cheep, he's off with the bouquet basket in his beak.

OFF CHIRP GOES.
BUT WHO IS HIDING BEHIND THE BUSHES?

Through a cutout on the verso page, Cheep spots a fuzzy face and part of one ear!

With a page turn we see Bear pop up with a big BOOOOO!

Cheep drops the basket and the flowers are scattered, a little the worse for wear!

Bear apologizes and offers an alternative idea for replacing the posies.

"I'LL TAKE YOU TO GET A NEW PRESENT!"

Chirp clings valiantly atop Bear's head, as with a beep, Bear bumbles on, even swimming across a pond with much splishing and splashing and a spooked Chirp precariously hanging on.

And there they are, at Bear's favorite strawberry patch. Bear hunkers down to eat a few, while Chirp searches for the sweetest, biggest, most perfect strawberries to fill his little basket. He assures Bear that he knows just how to find Auntie Duck's pond all by himself, but after a while all the meadows begin to look the same. As Chirp stops to get his bearings, a bird swoops down and makes off with the most perfect strawberry from the basket. The startled Chirp drops the basket and the birthday present berries begin to roll down the hill, with Chirp tumbling behind....

Will Chirp fail in his solo mission? Not to worry, in Sateshi Triyama's just published Happy Spring, Chirp! (Chirp the Chick) (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015). In a grand eight-page gatefold spread, Chirp and his berries tumble down, down, right into Auntie Duck's pond just in time to make  a dramatic splash at the birthday bash.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AUNTIE!" SAYS CHIRP.

"THANK YOU, MY SWEET CHICK," SAYS AUNTIE DUCK. "AND A HAPPY SPRING, TOO!"

With flaps, cut-outs, pop-ups, and vertical and horizontal gatefolds done up in sturdy stock, there is plenty for young fingers to do in this sun-drenched, pastel-paletted springtime story. Chirp is as cute as an Easter basket peep, and with the many critters--rabbits, ladybugs,caterpillars, moths, beetles, and birds--in the background, youngsters can have fun seeing how many of those pictured on the endpapers they can spot throughout the story.

Triyama's latest "toy and movable book" board book joins the earlier Good Night, Chirp (Chirp the Chick).