When does a child's book do more than tell a story?
There are at least nine good answers to that question - such as when a book becomes a toy, game, puzzle, bug jar, mini greenhouse, bird feeder, mask, drawing kit or night light.Yes, a night light! There's a new book that has a night light as part of the story and another with wheels, some with paper doll pieces that are meant to be added to the text and drawing books with their own markers.
Picture books have always run the gamut of possibilities for artists who have creative imaginations. "Pop-up" books with spectacular paper engineering have been around for more than 150 years, as have the ones with peep holes.
Recent examples of paper engineering are "This Is Me," a Tug-A-Tag Book by Keith Faulkner and Jonathan Lambert (St. Martin's Press) where each page names a separate part of the body through simple paper flaps. "Annabel's House" by Norman Messenger (Orchard Books) is the re-creation of an Edwardian home complete with paper figures to tuck behind doors, shelves and curtains that open. "Can I Stay With You?" by M. Christina Butler and Meg Rutherford (Dial Press) has slots in the pages to insert Little Bird as he tries to find a place to be safe from the cat who wants nothing more than to have him for lunch.
Kees Moerbeek's "New at the Zoo: A Mix-and-Match Pop-up Book" (Random House), mixes animal bodies and heads with pop-out mouths to make a menagerie of nonsense characters.
When my children were young they had a book about a grasshopper that popped its way through the story on a spring. Books with fabric have encouraged touching, and scratch-and-smell books or tiny music boxes have delighted other senses.
It's not unusual to have something attached to a book. "Doctor Dan" and "Nurse Nancy" have special bandages. Magic glasses, decoder devices and dolls all have been adapted to go along with the storyline. Books with cassette (and lately minidiscs) have become a burgeoning business. "Lullaby River" by Linda and Maria Danly (Knopf) is an example of mixed-media. This packet includes a book, an audio cassette and Tucker the Turtle, a 6-inch, soft fellow that may give the Ninja Turtles a run for their money!
The past few years have brought other "venture-in-book-formats" that delight the young reader. While literary values may have been sacrificed for the "gimmick," it is a proven fact that the toy book is a good marketing ploy for publishers. Following are some of the Books and Things that I have found interesting:
"The Glow-in-the-Dark Night Sky Book," resplendent with florescent paint, and "Mirrorstone" splashed with holograms give variety to picture-book media.
For science buffs there is an array of new ideas. "The Beach Book and the Beach Bucket" touts its audience as "the whole family." The book comes with a clear plastic bucket with air holes that are just right for scooping up seafaring creatures. "The Bug Book and the Bug Bottle" provide a container for collecting creepy crawlies and a four-color book to study them.
"The Bird Book and the Bird Feeder" do just what they say: provide a guide to 24 common backyard birds. "The Garden Book and the Greenhouse" is a durable plastic dome with a guide to 20 plants that can be started from seed. Each of these are in paperback, and the sets run from $8 to $10.
For $15.95, "Let's Grow! Gift Pack" includes a book loaded with projects, poster, seeds and a magic sponge. The ideas are grouped for 2- to 10-year-olds and up.
Young artists will find "Ed Emberley's Second Drawing Book" as fun as the first in the series (Little, Brown). There are four small drawing books, each using the author's "drawing alphabet" with colored pens and a blank sketchbook.
For those who want to make a performance, E.P. Dutton has a collection of 15 die-cut masks with a description of each animal shown. These are large (9x12) and colorful, just ready for the wearing.
"Noah's Ark" (Random House) is a book in the new "Learning Ladder" line for the preschool crowd. But this is not only a book, but a puzzle with five ample-size pieces, colorful and cut to fit the tiny hand. St. Martin's Press "Puzzle Books" are four boards book that individually tell a simple story but when put together make a puzzle.
Also from Random House, "Me and My Spoon" is a book and spoon set with the story of child's journey from bottle to finger food to spoon. For running around, "Thomas the Tank Engine," with big blue wheels attached to the book, will make an interesting venture with story and toy.
The night light? "Henry's Moon" is written and illustrated by Geoffrey Moss (Little, Brown). Henry was a city person who rarely saw the moon. So he built one. "If it rained or snowed, it didn't matter. Henry's moon still shone in his window, comforting and bright." The small book comes with an illuminated picture that you plug into a wall outlet.
The possibilities of a child's book doing more than telling a story seem endless. Hopefully, this collection of new and mixed-media will cause a child to read more and enjoy the experience.