~ review copy

Since the beginning of the year I have become a huge fan of Xavier Deneux. His books are just right down my alley. Besides having bright kid-friendly artwork they provide layers of educational possibilities, so that it's not just a book for one particular stage of development. And I love that.

TOUCH-THINK-LEARN ABC is a good example of his work. This is a huge 'boardbook', by the way. Big in size [7.8 x 2 x 10.2 inches] and big in the number of pages [32]. So you and your little one won't be hunkered over a tiny volume at laptime.

This is an ABC book but unlike some others it's got some dimensionality. For example, the letters A and B are the focus of the first two pages. The author has chosen a big green alligator and little red bird as examples and the words alligator and bird are spelled out in a clear font, but the dimensionality comes in with the cut-outs and raised letters. The raised A and B stand out from the page. The letters are about two inches high so this would be a good choice for vision impaired children. And cleverly the Alligator and the Bird have letters cut out of them so that if you could pick up the 'A' you could place it inside the Alligator.

Part of the fun in sharing this book is finding the shape within the animal. The E in elephant, for example, is backwards. And the G in garage is upside down.

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Which brings me to how you and I can use this book. At first you could just use it to point out colors and name animals and other objects. There are lots of animals in this book that you aren't going to find in other ABC books. There's an Owl, an Eagle, and a Quail for example. And I don't recall ever running across an ABC book that has Garage, Island, or Universe as some of their word choices.

When you get to the stage where your child is ready to learn their ABC's you can continue to use this book, and unlike others in the genre, you'll be able to add a tactile element by taking the child's finger and letting them trace the raised letter. Many homeschoolers have found it useful to trace letters in sand or on the page. With this book they'll have ready made raised letters. Little ones can certainly practice some eye/hand coordination with this book.

Lots to do with this one. Recommend.