Fiona Watt

First sentence: That's not my tiger. Its ears are too fluffy. That's not my tiger. Its paws are too smooth. That's not my tiger. Its tongue is too rough.

Premise/plot: One of the books in the THAT'S NOT MY....series by USBORNE. This one stars a tiger. Each spread features a touch-and-feel element for little ones to experience. The text--as you can see from my "first sentence" is predictable. (Which is not a bad quality for a board book for the youngest of readers). It is patterned.

My show more thoughts: I have a weakness for touch and feel books. That does not mean I approach them without a critical eye. One of my pet peeves is when publishers try to pass off "shiny" as a texture to touch or feel. I enjoyed this one. The elements to touch (and feel) were good--for the most part. I think the tongue's rough texture could have been rougher if I'm being completely honest. The most satisfying texture to touch (and feel) was the BUMPY texture which represented the tiger's teeth. show less

Premise/plot: One of the books in the THAT'S NOT MY...series by USBORNE. This one stars a lion. Each spread features a touch-and-feel element for little ones to experience. The text--as you can see from my "first sentence" is predictable. (Which is not a bad quality for a board book for the youngest of readers). It is patterned.

My thoughts: I have a weakness for touch and feel books. That does not mean I approach them without a critical eye. One of my pet peeves is when publishers try to show more pass off "shiny" as a texture to touch or feel. I enjoyed this one. The elements to touch (and feel) were good--for the most part. My least favorite texture to "touch" was the "shiny" teeth. Shiny is NOT a texture. My favorite texture to touch was the rough texture of the paws. show less

First sentence: That's not my Santa...his sleigh is too sparkly. That's not my Santa...his sack is too rough.

I have a weakness for GREAT touch-and-feel elements. The story can be a little weak, but give me good textures to feel, and I'll be drawn to it. The story is simple and a bit repetitive. But the textures for the most part are satisfying. I particularly love the rough sack. (Though I will argue that SPARKLY is never, never, never a texture.) Technically, Santa's gloves (look like show more mittens and definitely are NOT fuzzy despite the text) aren't quite right. But overall this one was pleasing. show less

A mouse keeps unsuccessfully looking for its dinosaur but finding ones that aren't right.

This is great book for infants and toddlers given its short nature and textured illustrations. Why does a mouse have a dinosaur? Who knows, and also who cares. It's just a pretext to look at different brightly colored dinosaurs. This is a nice sturdy board book to get the youngest ones interested in the concept of reading and engaging with books.