Tag: Ultimate Spotlight

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads, Toddler Reads, Uncategorized

Big books for little ones: board books and more!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

You know I love a board book bonanza, but I’ve got other interactive books to crow about, too! Let’s go right to it!

Ultimate Spotlight: Caring for Earth, by Sandra Laboucarie & Sarah Reynard/Illustrated by Julie Mercier, (March 2023, Twirl Books), $16.99, ISBN: 9791036353239

Ages 4-6

Twirl’s Ultimate Spotlight series is such fun for pre-readers and emerging readers. Loaded with interactive devices like lift-the-flaps, pull tabs, and spinners, each book is like a little adventure. Caring for Earth, the newest book in the series, is a fun and informative look into conservation and preservation. Spreads on respecting nature, creating gardens, eco-friendly living inform grown-ups and children about the many easy ways we can take action to keep our Earth green: create and support a seed library; compost food waste; switch from liquid soap to bar soap, and take a healthy walk when you can! Spreads on gardening show readers the different layers helpful in creating a layered ecosystem. Translated from the original French, the verbiage runs smoothly and is easy to read to younger learners. Flaps and pulls are sturdy and hold up to use (but I always suggest keeping an extra in your reference collection if you want to hold one for storytime and STEM programming). A good addition to a very fun series.

 

Hello Hummingbirds: Read and play in the tree!, by Hannah Rogge/Illustrated by Emily Dove, (May 2023, Chronicle Books), $12.99, ISBN: 9781797210094

Ages 2-4

This adorable book comes with two hummingbirds, attached to ribbons, that readers can use to swoop and play with the hummingbird narrator. A friendly hummingbird greets readers and takes them through a day in the life: swooping and flying, enjoying flower nectar, sheltering and building a nest. Quick, fun facts thread through the narrative, while the colorful artwork and playful fonts engage readers. The book stands up and pages open to become a tree. The pages are sturdy and the ribbons seem to hold up to extra tugging, making this a good storytime/playtime choice.

Let’s Go to Color Camp!: Beginning Baby, by Nicola Slater, (June 2023, Twirl Books), $12.99, ISBN: 9781797218724

Ages 0-3

The Beginning Baby friends return on a trip to Color Camp – and they need help identifying colors! Tabbed flaps with colors help children turn to a favorite color, or they can page through the story where they’re invited to identify colors in the camp surroundings as the Beginning Baby friends paint, eat lunch, go swimming, and enjoy a day at camp. The retro art and expressive, friendly animals are eye-catching, and the sturdy pages will hold up to multiple readings. Great for a read-aloud and quiet skill-building, this is a fun addition to a fun series.

 

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads, Toddler Reads

Animals, Animals, Animals for all!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Ultimate Spotlight: Polar Animals, by Sandra Laboucarie/Illustrated by da-fanny, (Aug. 2021, Twirl Books), $16.99, ISBN: 9791027608782

Ages 5-8

As kids area getting ready to put on sweatshirts and jackets, the Ultimate Spotlight: Polar Animals are here to show readers how they handle the extreme weather in the Southern Hemisphere. Five spreads, loaded with flaps, pull-tabs, pulls, and fold-out spreads illustrate how penguins, orcas, whales, musk oxen, polar bears, and more animals eat, travel, and live on land and in the ocean. A brief, factual paragraph introduces readers to the subject matter on each spread: Born in the Cold, Eating Underwater, Traveling Underwater, Winter and Summer in the Tundra, and On the Ice Sheet. Interesting facts run through each spread: penguins use their wings to swim, not fly; humpback whales have baleen plates, not teeth; a seal’s clawed front flippers help it cut breathing holes in thick ice. Sturdy flaps and pulls will stand up to multiple reads; the illustrations and facts will make this an interesting book that will keep toddlers happy during a read-aloud, and preschoolers and emerging readers fascinated as they discover and learn about life in the Arctic and Antarctic.

Cool Antarctica has beautiful photos and facts about Arctic and Antarctic animals, as well as recipes, PowerPoints, and other school resources.

 

The Ultimate Book of Animals, by Anne-Sophie Baumann/Illustrated by Éléonore Della Malva, (Aug. 2021, Twirl Books), $22.99, ISBN: 9791027610006

Ages 5-8

This oversized beauty is chock full of activities for curious little minds and hands. With more than 50 flaps, pop-up, pull-tabs, mini-books, and more, kids won’t know where to look first! A great starter animal encyclopedia, The Ultimate Animal Book has spreads on Animal Bodies, Birth and Growing, Body Coverings, movement, the five senses, movement, and more. Each spread is loaded with manipulatives for kids to explore: lift the wings of a seagull or a macaw or pull a tab to learn how horses, cats, bees, and bald eagles see; pull a tab to see a snake’s slithery tongue, and lift flaps to discover the inner workings of all sorts of animals, from a pigeon to a dolphin. Loaded with facts that let kids learn hands-on, this is going to be a popular book in your collections. Preschool shelves should absolutely keep one of these on-hand for their science/STEM stations.

Put out the animal coloring sheets and display with other interesting animal books – maybe take a spread to draw attention to related books in your collection! If you were doing a spread on Animal Hearing, you could feature books like What If You Had Animal Ears?, by Sandra Markle; the immortal Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? by Bill Martin Jr., and Caroline Arnold’s Did You Hear That? Animals with Super Hearing.

 

Magnetology: Animals, by Maud Poulain/Illustrated by Camille Tisserand, (Sept. 2021, Twirl Books), $22.99, ISBN: 9791027609987

Ages 3-5

If you have play areas, this is the book for you! Perfect for science stations and play areas (and a pretty darn nice gift), Magnetology: Animals includes 45 magnetic pieces and a strong cardboard envelope, built into the book, for storage. Five magnetic spreads let readers create their own animal habitats across the Arctic, a forest, the Savanna, the rain forest, and a coral reef. A few lines on each biome gives readers an overview of each area; short fun facts across each spread give readers more to read and learn. Let kids create their own habitats, mix and match animals, and create their own stories! Consider putting a rubber band around the top of the page to keep pages open and offer some toy animals, too, if you have them available. Illustrations are colorful and eye-catching. Toddlers can easily get in on the fun. Make animal board books available around the play area, if you’ve set one up. Some recent favorites of mine include Giuliano Ferri’s Go Fish and Lo Cole’s Ten in a Hurry; Turn Seek and Find Habitats, and Brita Teckentrup’s Little Animal series.

 

Posted in Early Reader, Non-Fiction, Preschool Reads

#HomesCool Pop Up Books for Little Learners

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Twirl Books is releasing incredible new books for little learners. I was thrilled to receive a big box of their new and upcoming books, and I’ve loved everything I’ve read so far. This post looks at two pop-up nonfiction titles for preschoolers that are going to love. Make space in your easy nonfiction and board book libraries: Twirl is taking over.

The Pop-Up Guide: Space, by Sophie Dussaussois/Illustrated by Charline Picard, (March 2021, Twirl Books), $16.99, ISBN: 9791036325199

Ages 3-5

A pop-up guide to space is just what the budding astronomer ordered! Ten spreads open up to reveal 3-D starscapes, our solar system, the lunar landing, the International Space Station, and more. Brief paragraphs provide a factual overview of each spread, and pictures are labeled to increase readers’ science vocabulary, with terms and proper nouns including “observatory”, “centrifuge”, “Buzz Aldrin”, and “Curiosity rover”. Illustrations are colorful and informative, with detail to engage readers. The pages are sturdy, but you’ll want to buy a copy to keep in reference to be on the safe side. Elastic bands on the corners of the front cover make for a nice hands-free reading experience, letting kids examine every inch of the illustrations on each spread. I can’t wait to see what other Pop-Up Guides Twirl has planned!

 

Ultimate Spotlight: Rain Forest Animals, by Sandra Laboucarie/Illustrated by Émilie Lapeyre, (March 2021, Twirl Books), $16.99, ISBN: 9791027608775

Ages 4-7

The Ultimate Spotlight series from Twirl is also has pop-up panels, but adds other interactive features like lift-the-flaps, movable tabs, and turn-the-wheel. Five spreads take readers through a rain forest, where they can see a 3-D representation of the layered forest, from ground up through emergent layer; play hide and seek with camouflaged denizens of the forest; meet animal families; discover gliding animals and see how they move, and explore a foldout visualizing of the rain forest by day and at night. Animals are clearly labeled and brief, factual sentences provide exciting new facts for animal fans. Pages will hold up to a lot of reading, but I’d consider a backup copy if your budget allows. I’d also reinforce the spines of both books with library tape if you have it; these are going to be heavily circulated. Illustrations are colorful, with the vibrant colors of the rain forests and its citizens nicely represented. Kids are going to love this and the other books in the Ultimate Spotlight series: Savanna Animals, Dinosaurs, Firefighters, Trains, and Astronauts.