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(Animal Kisses (2000) Barney Saltzberg)

This is a cute, simple book about different animals and the way their skin, fur, etc may feel. The book says "Do you like" so and so kisses. Such as "do you like scratchy cat kisses"; then there is a picture of a cat with a scratchy fabric on the tongue. I chose this book because I love interactive touch and feel books, I think it is a type of book that gets young children of all ages involved in the reading. I think this book supports children's engagement in reading because it keeps children interested in the book. When reading to young children at work I often find that if you are not engaging with them, then they get bored. Books like this helps children to stay focused and engaged because they want to feel and think about what is being said in the book. Interactive touch and feel books such as this one make it fun to read with their classmates; they learn to share and take turns with the books. This in turn can also make it more fun and engaging because the class is doing this activity together. You can also connect books like this to their life by asking questions like "What else feels like this?". Children are very capable of relating things back to their own life if you give them the chance, and this helps to give them positive experiences with reading and books; there, making them want to read and be engaged even more.

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Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell (1982; board book lift-the-flap)

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I really love how this lift-the-flap book engages children physically with fine motor skills and also as they reveal different animals. It encourages the kiddos prediction skills, their repetition of fine motor practice, and also their natural curiosity. Interactive toy books I believe help promote active learning rather than only just their passive listening. I also think kids love the surprise element of almost anything. So having multiple places to open things up and have a surprise waiting helps to keep them interest and engaged in the story. I’d use this in our classes small groups or even just as a one-on-one with toddlers to build animal vocabulary and excitement around reading.

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My preschool kids love any Find Spot flip book. They eagerly try to discover where Spot could be on each page, making predictions and observations as we make our way through the pages. This one is perfect, especially for the first day of school, because the kids can relate to the pictures with things they've done in the classroom, like Spot. Not only are they exploring and searching for the main character throughout the book, but the act of flipping the flap also builds their fine motor coordination and skills. This book sparks curiosity and imagination and encourages them to read it independently retelling the story as they go!

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Cookies! An Interactive Recipe Book Lotta Nieminen (2018).

The piece of children's literature I chose for the toy book category is Cookies! An Interactive Recipe Book. So far in our class and in my previous child development classes we discuss weekly how important it is for children to be engaged in their play, in their education, and in their learning. Some ways we can make learning and literacy more appealing to children is by providing reading materials that are engaging with pictures, colors, and themes and that represent the special interests of the children! Personally, I LOVE all things cooking and baking and have since I was a preschooler! When looking at what toy books the IMC offered I found this book and was immediately intrigued. It isn't just a book about making cookies, but it features a real recipe to follow including ingredients and measurements and interactive parts of the book. My favorite pages include the one where the reader is asked to "fold" the wet into the dry ingredients and the prompts you to do this by pushing paper around in a semi circle shape and the page where you can take the cookies out of the oven!

For children interested in helping cook / bake, this book immediately catches the eye, sparks the curiosity, and builds upon children's interests, tying it into literacy. Not only is it a book children can relate to and have fun reading, but learning to read and follow the directions for a recipe are important life skills and something children can easily participate in in the kitchen! What I love about this book and why sets it apart is that the book extends the learning beyond reading and literacy and connects it not only to something in reality (making cookies), but actually gives the reader the measurements, ingredients, and steps to make these cookies at home! This way children can take their learning from books and apply it to real life situations!

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(The Wide-Mouthed Frog (1996) Keith Faulkner)

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Pop-up books use interactive features that appeal to a variety of senses to get pre-kindergarteners interested in reading. Reading becomes more dynamic than with regular books thanks to the three-dimensional pictures and moving elements that produce a tactile and visual experience. Young children are drawn in and encouraged to investigate the story by this interactive element. A good attitude toward literacy can be fostered by associating reading with excitement and fun, which is made possible by the novelty of the pop-up style. Pop-up books reinforce early literacy skills by combining visual, tactile, and narrative features that make them memorable and encourage recurrent interaction.

A frog with a large mouth that he simply enjoys using originates from the Okefenokee Swamp. From a fuzzy brown mouse to a blue-feathered bird, he is especially curious about what other animals in the big outside eat. Until he encounters a large, toothy green creature one day, who thinks wide-mouthed frogs are just plain tasty.

I chose this book as it is one that is very eye-catching with the illustrations, and the pop-up features make the animals and what they eat even more appealing to catch the children's attention. This book is an oldie that I was introduced to in school, and it's one that I recall reading in school. This simple, yet wonderfully illustrated book catches the children's attention with the different animals the frog meets along the way. It introduces the idea of what different animals eat and how nature works with the food chain (frog running into an alligator). It also shows the danger of curiosity and why we must be careful when speaking to new people.

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Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

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I love Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? With this book you can make it interactive by having the children be the animals or making finger puppets and making it a finger play. It has repetitive words which makes it easier for children to hear and understand the words. Not only does it have rhymes it also has colors, animals, and repetitive words. This is a fun book for children and as a teacher we can let them get creative with how we read it. Everytime we read this in the classroom all of the children love it and it is great getting to see all of the different animals coming out in the classroom.

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brown bear brown bear what do you see pop up book 

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This felt book is great for little hand and minds. The story is set on a ranch where dino's and people live They like to play ball and climbing mountains. On this ranch they have a baby dino hospital. the dino's and the people love to play in the grass,trees and flowers. Then like like racing each other I believe this felt book teaches child that we can get along with everyone. Felt books help children to use their hands to feel different textures.

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This book is the classic tale of the three little pigs and the big bad wolf. We use it in our Pre-K classroom during our unit on Fairy Tales. The story is well known to children and the really engaging part of this book is the four finger puppets that are included. The three little pigs (with one being a girl pig) and the big bag wolf are colorful felt puppets that fit perfectly over a child’s finger. The book’s back cover also has a cut out that looks like a theater. The children can use the puppets to follow along with the story as an adult reads it or use them to tell the story with the book propped up to create a stage after they have the story memorized.

I chose this book to share because it is always a student favorite in our classroom. It  consistently sparks so much creativity and imagination. The familiarity of the story helps to build confidence in children as they start recognizing letters or words while the interactive elements encourage children to participate in the storytelling process.

The puppets play a big role in keeping the students engaged.  Children also have to listen closely to the story so that they can follow along with the narrative using the puppets. This helps boost both their listening and comprehension skills. The hands-on element of the book also can expand their vocabulary as they practice using new words that they encounter in the story. However, for me the best thing about this book is that it turns reading into a playful and immersive activity which makes literacy meaningful and fun.

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These fun tactical books keep children engaged right from the beginning. This children's book allows children to "Poke-A Dot" as they count the animals in the book. As the child presses the dot it makes a click and pop noise. Compared to regular books, these books give children something to look forward to. This means they are paying attention and waiting for their turn to press the "dot". My son is 15 months old and has learned to press the "dot" already. He waits for me to stop reading so he can press it.

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I love this book because my son had it and it brought back so many memories, and I remembered how much he learned from this little book. (We always loved when he would make the same noises as the animals.) I also love how it is a touch and feel book but also includes sounds as well.

I think this book helps support children's engagement by allowing them to feel the animals to connect them with how they feel and how they sound. As it makes the sound, they can copy the sound themselves making it more fun and engaging. I would also ask them how they could describe how the animals feel according to the book. Such as " did the cow feel soft or rough?" "Did the pig and chicken feel the same or different?" "Can you moo like the cow did?"

This little book can also help grow their vocabulary, such as introducing new words such as wool or mane.

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Dear Zoo: A Lift-the-Flap Book by: Rod Campbell

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Dear Zoo: A Lift-the-Flap Book by: Rod Campbell

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I chose Dear Zoo because i feel like it is a timeless classic in early childhood classrooms and a perfect example of a toy book. It has lift-the-flap format that really just transforms reading into an interactive experience, the flaps are inviting children to physically participate in the story by giving them an action to go with the words. Each page builds anticipation kind of because the children get to guess what animal might be hiding, then reveal the surprise, which keeps them engaged and eager to turn the page. This book supports children’s engagement in reading by combining humor, giving kids some predictability, and interactions. The repetitive story line also encourages children to join in orally (“It was too big!” “It was too scary!”), while the picture flaps also supports fine motor skills and give them a sense of control over the storytelling. I think also because of the playful structure, children are not just listening to a story, they are actively involved in it. That participation helps kiddos connect reading with fun, curiosity, and discovery, which fosters a love of books.

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This book is vibrant in color and illustration and requires using fine motor skills and eye hand coordination when pushing the buttons. This book uses written word along with pictures of written words and then will say the written word when the picture is pushed. This is connecting vocabulary to memory and memory to written words. It is building the concept of written word to letters and sounds that will produce a fluency in reading.

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Have You Ever Tickled a Tiger (2009) Betsy Snyder

I chose this book because it looks playful and engaging for children, as well it looks like it would be the kind of book that could spark a child’s imagination. I think that this book supports children’s engagement in reading because of the rhyming graphemes within the text and rhythmic text itself helps foster a child’s phonological awareness. I also thought that this book supports children’s engagement in reading because the colorful and vibrant illustrations located on each page of this book help promote a young child’s print concept to further help them engage with the text itself. Lastly, I connect personally to this book because I remember growing up being drawn to books within this gerne that were colorful and full or illustrations. It really helped me understand as a kid what was happening in the book despite not being able to grasp the concept quite yet of what each printed word meant.

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Not your average touch-and-feel!Everyone knows what it’s like to pat a bunny that’s soft and cuddly. But for those babies and toddlers who want to touch something different—say prickly and tickly animals of a more exotic nature—Betsy Snyder’s Have You Ever Tickled a Tiger? offers the perfect opportunity. This novelty book asks its readers if they’ve ever kissed a walrus, poked a penguin, or hugged an octopus, among others! Rhyming couplets share more about the delightfully illustrated creatures boasting tickly whiskers, velvety tummies, bumpy tentacles, fluffy feathers, etc.—all for baby to touch and feel!

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I chose The Very Hungry Caterpillar because it is a personal favorite of mine from childhood and it is a very interactive book. I think this book supports children's engagement in reading because it follows a very repetitive pattern which helps a child begin to understand patterns and anticipate what comes next in the story. I also think this book is helpful because it has touch-and-feel elements with the different die-cut holes throughout the book. It is also a very colorful book and teaches things such as counting, the days of the week, different types of food, etc. I always loved this book growing up and I love reading it to my preschoolers because they always enjoy seeing the caterpillar eventually turn into a butterfly.

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I've used these books in the past with my two year olds and they loved them! I really enjoyed how the children were able to feel certain animals that they may not have been exposed to in the past. One of the many ways that I kept them engaged in this reading was asking them if they could guess what sound that particular animal made. I would read this book during small group with children who were interested.

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(Fluffy Animals (2021) DK)

I chose this book because it’s a great book for introducing young children to books in a fun, interactive way. It has sturdy board pages, soft textures, and bright animal images which are perfect for babies and toddlers beginning to explore reading. This book helps support children's engagement in reading by encouraging

sensory interaction by having textures and encouraging children to touch, feel, and explore them. I also supports visual and language development by providing clear, colorful photos and simple words to help build vocabulary and animal recognition.This book makes reading fun, interactive, and developmentally meaningful for early learners.

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Little People books are awesome. The book has bright colors and many different flaps. The book starts off with an intro to the farm. There are many animal pictures to show what is like on the farm. It shows the many jobs that are needed to run a farm. The flip ys helps children learn what each animal eats and how to take care of them. I love to see the reaction the children have to each flip of the pictures. I enjoy making the children guess to see if they are right.

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There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly. -Felt Board

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There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly. -Felt Board

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I chose this book because it was personally one of my childhood favorites to read in elementary school. It supports childrens engagement because of the funny story that it tells about a woman that swallows unusual things which captures the students attention because it's impossible to swallow large things as she does. Using the felt board while reading the story provides children to participate and engage in the reading as they will be able to recall and arrange the events in the correct order after reading the story. I loved this as a child because my teacher would let each of us come up and place the item on the board as she read, it caught my attention by the colorful illustrations and it allowed me to use hands on to help memorize the story.

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There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly with Felt Board

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Zoe and Zack: Opposites is a board book with cutouts that layer over different pictures to change the situation. It shows directionality through "up" and "down", and it focuses on alliteration with the names. It also helps children associate words with pictures (bird is IN cage, bird is OUT of cage) and displays feelings. It supports reading because it is simple enough for young children to comprehend and does well accounting for short attention spans. I can definitely see the toddlers I work with flipping through the pages playing with how they look which is a great way to engage them with reading in the future.

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This book is great for young children (ages 1-2). I chose the book because my niece loves it. She always pulls it out of the toy box and gives it to me. The book is 100% polyester, so it’s very soft. Soft polyester books encourage sensory exploration. They have a unique texture and make crinkle sounds. These features catch children’s interest and support their engagement in reading. When my niece picks up the book and hears the sounds, it catches her attention, and she starts flipping through the pages.

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I chose this book because it was a book that I read when I was younger and really enjoyed. The book is very interactive, and it goes through many different things that the child can interact with. It goes through different things, saying things like, "Judy can pat the bunny Now YOU pat the bunny". It then features a fluffy bunny outline that the child can pet. There are also other things, like trying on mommy's ring and looking at yourself in the mirror. All of these things make me feel like it is supporting the child's engagement in reading.

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I read this book to my nanny kids and they loved it. They enjoyed looking at the bright colors and it has such a great message. It teaches children self-worth as well as belonging, accepting and inclusivity. This book supports children's engagement in reading by having bright colors and great artwork that keep them engaged in the book. This book also includes rhythmic text, and die-cuts that they are able to touch.

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I chose the book Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell because it's a fun, interactice book that can keep young children engaged while supporting early literacy skills. The life-the-flap format makes the story and book hands-on, helping the child develop fine motor skills when they open the flaps and discover the different animals hidden beneath. This book is repetative and predictable which encourages children to participate and build confidence, while the animal thing keeps the story interesting and exciting. Overall, this book makes reading enjoyable and fun which helps keep children engaged and interested not only in the story, but fosters a positive relationship with books and reading.

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I think children would have fun interacting with this book because when they touch little fuzzy pieces on the pages, a sound is created! For me, I've found that children like to test the waters of EVERYTHING, and this book gives them just that! In my mind, I can see a person reading this to a child, and each time they read, "Don't tickle the Witch" for example, they could use a tone that matches the tone of the book character. And, lets face it, when kids are told, "Don't," they usually "Do!" I could see children asking their family to read this over and over, just to hear their family use silly character voices and to hear the cute sounds when the child presses the fuzzy parts. The little fuzzy pieces are neat too. Some children may not have any pets, and so the soft fuzzy pieces would be a new feeling. Also, soft could make a child calm and the calmness might be contagious - This book is engaging!

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The children are engaged with the interactive flaps in the book that reveal hidden zoo animals underneath. The story is being told through the pictures and interactive features. I think this is a great book to have, and it's a sturdy board book that can be used before literacy is even introduced, simply as an interactive book.

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I personally love everything by Eric Carle, so when I found this book it was a no-brainer for me to use it. This book is called You're My Little Star, and it is an interactive "toy" book in the sense that there are lots on lift up flaps, touch and feel sensory feels, and mirrors. The theme of the book is centered around bedtime, but it definitely does not have to be confined to only being read at that time. I think that it supports children's engagement with reading wonderfully because the child can feel like they are participating in the reading experience by looking into the little mirrors on the pages of the book and seeing themselves. When they lift up flaps and pet the soft textures they are also actively engaging with it as well. I think that this book is so great for the topic of reading engagement because I think that the idea of incorporating mirrors where children can literally see their own reflection in what they are reading is so smart!

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Rosie Greening's captivating interactive book, Never Touch a Monster! has a rubbery, rough textures that encourages children to play, explore, and feel a variety of goofy creatures. By prompting children to draw connections between words, textures they feel, the entertaining rhyming language they hear, its tactile elements promote emerging reading. Bright pictures and touch and feel components keep children interested and help them develop comprehension via sensory learning, while repetition, rhythm, and predictable phrasing enhance phonological awareness. It naturally improves vocabulary development, attention, and spoken language abilities since children physically interact with the book, touching textures, naming traits, and speculating how the next monster will feel.

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I chose Peek-a-Who? because it is a very interactive book that I feel can keep young children engaged in reading. The lift-the-flap feature encourages children to be active participants instead of just listeners. As they lift each flap to see what is underneath, they stay curious and excited about what will come next. The simple rhyming text also helps hold children’s attention and makes the reading experience feel playful.

I think this book supports children’s engagement in reading because it feels more like a game than a traditional story. Children are able to guess what might be hiding under the flap, say the rhyming words out loud, and physically interact with the book. This kind of hands-on interaction is especially helpful for children who may have shorter attention spans or who learn best through movement and exploration.

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Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

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Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

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Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See was written by Bill Martin Jr. and illustrated by Eric Carle, originally published in 1967, but there have been many editions since then. I chose this book because I loved it as a child, the illustrations are so unique and the repetition was so helpful to follow. The question-answer structure is something I really value in books, and the fact that this book is interactive really adds to how engaging it an be. This book can be used in real life conversations and engagement too, pointing out things that children might see in every day life. I can see that this book could be very helpful for a class if they are in an area where they might be seeing a lot of animals. It can even be turned into a game, allowing them to point out what they see to each other!

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Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See Hc | The Book Vine

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Written by Bill Martin Jr. Illustrated by Eric Carle.

Hardcover.

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Tails by Matthew Van Fleet

I chose this book because the children I work with love the textured flaps, tabs, and the way they can move some of the pieces. The book engages the children by inviting them to pull, touch, predict what kind of tails may appear, and compare the textures. The children are able to be involved in the story.

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By: Sara Gillingham and Lorena Siminovich

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In My Nest is a simple and interactive board book that helps young children learn about animals and where they live. The book uses soft textures and bright pictures to show different animals in their nests or homes. Children can touch and feel the pages, which keeps them interested and involved while reading. The short text and repeated pattern make the book easy to follow and great for early readers.I chose this book because it is very hands on and fun for young children. Kids enjoy touching the textures and guessing which animal will come next. From my experience, books like this help children stay focused longer because they can use more than just their eyes they can touch and explore too. This book supports children’s engagement in reading by making storytime feel playful and interactive, which helps build a love for books at an early age.