Day 157: Alphabet (and other fun books by Matthew Van Fleet)

We recently discovered Matthew Van Fleet's fabulous series of interactive books at my good friend Katie's house and my kids couldn't get enough of them.  Fortunately, our local library has several of his titles, so we decided to bring Alphabet home with us last week.  Believe me when I tell you that this book is full of flap-lifting, texture-feeling, scratch-n-sniffing, tab-pulling fun!  In fact, I can't even keep the book near me while I write this because my son keeps wanting to read it and explore each page!  Alphabet brings us from A to Z with an array of creatures and plants along the way, including several species that were completely new to us (such as uacaris, xenops, and zorillas. My son just came flapping over to me pretending to be an Io moth.  I love it!)  The back of the book features a list of extras to go back and find once you're done, as well, including 3 other creatures and one plant that begin with each letter of the alphabet.  The playful rhymes make it fun to read -- "Striped iguanas climb, spotted jaguars pounce.  Playful baby kangaroos -- bounce, bounce, bounce!" -- but most of all, kids will love all of the tactile components of the book.  My son's favorite is the sticky octopus.  The book is rather sturdy, but with so many flaps to lift and tabs to pull, you should probably expect to have to mend it from time to time.  Don't let that deter you from getting it, though.  The amount of fun your child will have with this book makes it too great to pass up.  I also love that Alphabet comes with an amazing fold-out lift-the-flaps poster (seen above) that my children absolutely love!  As with some of our other favorite books, this is one that grows along with your child and is appealing to a wide age range.  Babies will love feeling all of the fluffy tails, fuzzy coats, and bumpy scales, and older children will love learning about and looking for all of the animals and plants.  I can't wait to get this book someday, as it really is a must-have for our collection.  Be sure to check out some of Van Fleet's other titles, too, which are equally fun and fabulous:  Heads, Tails, Dog, and Cat, to name a few.  We hope you love them as much as we do!