Matthew Van Fleet

I was excited about this book because my daughter loves dogs and interactive books. I was still surprised by how awesome it was when it showed up!

It is a huge, sturdy book with tons of fun elements. The cover has two soft furry tails and a tail that wags when you move the tab. Inside are dozens of high-quality pictures of many types of dogs. There are several different types of furry textures, several moving parts, and even a dog with a sticky tongue. My daughter particularly liked this and show more has been disappointed recently as the stick wears off. The last two pages open up to an extra wide spread with a hidden non-dog visitor. The words are silly but not in an irritating way. She is eleven months old now and will be enjoying this one for a long time. show less

Toy book with textures, foldouts, insets, even a scratch-and-sniff skunk tail (missing from the library book I read) to go with a rhyming text about animal tails. The colorful pictures show animals behaving unrealistically, but they're having fun and so is the reader / toucher and puller of pages. Children are much more interested in playing with the book than in the text. The book ends with names of all the animals shown and finally suggests going back to count the number of each type of show more animal. I have never heard of a pangolin. show less

I love Matthew van Fleet's work. He takes the touch-and-feel book to whole new levels with his artistry. This book is all about tails - shocking, I know - but the subject is secondary to the illustrations. He uses a combination of fabric patches and hair (like most touch-and-feel books), moving pieces like swishing tails, pull up and slide out tabs, scratch-and-sniff, and glittering metallic foil. Everything is tastefully joined with cute illustrations and simple rhyming text. The only down show more side is that it so clever and sweet, I don't like leaving it in my girl's room, board book or not. They are too curious and destroy it. I actually already bought a second copy. Now I keep it in the library and take it out to read with mommy's supervision. We all love it. show less

Bedtime gets a new level of fun with this read...and it's sure to become a favorite.

Already the animals on the front invite in with their friendly smiles and waves. Then, there's the first lever right on the cover. So, this one catches the attention right away. Bedtime preparations hit one by one, starting with a big bath full of animals (scrubbing away with bubbles and the next lever of motion) and ending with an exciting pillow fight. Still, it does settle for a last moment of calming show more vibes, which settle to dreams and sleep.

This is a very solid board book with levers made from plastic to make them extra strong. The moving images are placed behind a clear, plastic window to protect the moving parts and help them last longer. The levers work easily and click into place to keep them from easily ripping out and ruining the fun. That means it's not a light book, but I do appreciate the robust thoughts and enjoy how smoothly they work.

The movements aren't overly extreme but stay calm while promoting fun. There's always a sense of group fun thanks to the row of animals. The lighter coloring and simple lines fit well to the age group well.

The text is written in lyrical rhyme, which flows very nicely and leads through the scenes nicely. Only the last page didn't rhyme, which bothered me but not the kids. They enjoyed the book just the way it is and gave it an immediate 'again'. show less