A Book to Keep a Toddler Busy
Few things capture my almost 3-year-old toddler’s attention for long. S goes through his toy boxes and drawers like a bargain hunter in a flea market - everything gets pulled out and thrown willy nilly with just a passing look. This week, though, one book has managed to keep S busy for 10-20 minute snatches throughout the day.
Richard Scarry’s Best Word Book Ever is an oversized book that’s so big my son can easily hide behind it while reading. Despite its unwieldy size, S still delights in dragging it everywhere with him and naming everything he can find on each colorfully drawn page. Full of details and things to count, the Best Word Book Ever is not only enriching S’s vocabulary, it’s giving him many chances to practice his new counting and letter identification skills.
The book is not without its strange quirks, though. First published in 1963, there’s a record player but no CD player; an antenna but no satellite dish; and a hand crank drill instead of an electric one. Weirdest of all, pigs carve up roast beef for a holiday meal while others work as fire fighters (aren’t they afraid of turning into crispy bacon?).
Despite these whacked scenarios, I can understand the appeal of the book. I spent more than half-an-hour flipping through every page while writing this post.
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POSTED IN: Children's Books (0 to 5 yrs)
2 opinions for A Book to Keep a Toddler Busy
river2sea72
Jun 5, 2005 at 7:00 am
Love love love Richard Scarrey. I have found the classics of children’s literature to be far more engaging to my daughter than any of the new stuff.
Lei
Jun 5, 2005 at 7:38 pm
river2sea72 - Even though it may seem heretical, I find some of the classics hard to read, e.g., Beatrix Potter, because the old language makes it hard to relate to.
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