Flaptastic Animals: Charlie Gardner

Don't be fooled by the simple cover with raised, textured animals. DK delivers a board book chock full of imagery for your totz.


The foal, tiger, clownfish, polar bear, and kitten are featured. The reader is asked where each lives, and then a flap lifts to ask what other creatures live in the location as well. It's a great representation of the animal kingdom. Aside from the strange disparity between the cover and interior, this is a beautiful board book from DK.

Flaptastic Animals
text by Charlie Gardner
design by Victoria Harvey
DK, 2010

DK Toddler Fun

The master of nonfiction has to be DK, right? See if you can still find this boxed collection called Toddler Fun. Included are previously published lift-the-flap board books Words in My World, Colorful World, Shapes All Around, and Numbers are Everywhere.

Each page provides the featured item and then asks a question or prompts further discovery beneath the accompanying flap. "This ball is a circle. Let's find some more circles." Beneath the flap is a button, bubbles, a wheel, a flower, an orange, a clock, and marbles.

This little set is packed full of imagery to keep your totz reading. Explore words, colors, shapes, and numbers with your little readers. Thanks, DK!

Toddler Fun
DK Publishing, 2008

Pop-Up Counting Animals: A DK Publishing Collaboration

This week's board book review is simply named Pop-Up Counting Animals. I wasn't convinced I'd be engaged, but I shouldn't have doubted. It's DK Publishing.

Using Dave King's special photography, a bit of flat graphics, and Fiona Gowen's paper engineering, this collaborative work pops! When the first kitten opens beside the number one, you just have to say ooooooooh. And when the five butterflies flap free of the book at the close, you say aaaaaaaaaah. In between, watch for fish, chicks, and parakeets. (Which color would you choose?)

Sit down with your totz and pop open this board book with amazement. Thanks, DK for bringing this back as a revised version of the 1995, Number Pops. Here's to keeping the best in print!

Pop-Up Counting
Photographs by Dave King
Engineered by Fiona Gowen
DK Publishing, 2009