Title: Picture This
Author/Illustrator: Alison Jay
Reading Level: Baby - Preschool
Hardcover: 32 Pages
Publisher: Dutton Children's Books
The other day, I was thinking about books I used to enjoy reading to my daughter when she was a little baby. I didn't have to think too hard because, Alison Jay's picture books immediately sprang up to my mind. The gorgeous illustrations with a word or two on every page makes it a perfect first book for babies and toddlers.
It might look like a very simple picture book, but when you look closer, you would realize that it has much more to it. The author cleverly adapts some classic nursery rhymes like 'Jack and Jill' and 'Hickory Dickory' for words like 'Hill' and 'Clock'. On top of that, every page takes clues from the previously illustrated picture for a clever word play. For instance, a gold fish that adorns a fisherman's hat on the previous page, now swims inside a tiny fish tank on the next page. A red airplane that is swooping over the fields on one page, flies past a soaring kite on the next page. A painting of a rabbit inside a car hanging over a ship enclosed in a glass bottle makes a reappearance in the following page to emphasis the word 'car'. Many of the pictures make more than one appearance to reinforce the concept.
I am not sure if my daughter grasps the 'déjà vu' effect , but she loves to look at the beautiful illustrations and she has learnt many of her first words from it. It is unlike any other first word books I have ever read. I don't think its an easy feat to take some irrelevant words and somehow link them to create a story using the pictures alone. My daughter is not as crazy as before about these books, but she likes to look at them from time to time. Ideal for Babies!
My Rating: 4.5/5
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