When I originally had the idea for this blog I thought it would be fun to focus on holiday books. This was last fall, when I was spending hours perusing and then reading Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas books to my sons, and I discovered some real gems. But here I am writing in January so I'll have to wait until next fall to tell you about those and you'll have to wait to hear about them. I think President's Day books appropriate for two-year-olds are a little hard to come by. (I can't actually be sure of this as I haven't searched too deeply. Our local library has placed a hold on holds for the next month while they update their system.) In any case, since it's a new year let's start at the top: with Heads by Matthew Van Fleet.
We have several other titles in the Matthew Van Fleet collection. I think they're delightful, and this newest creation does not disappoint. True to form there are all sorts of different textures for babies to feel ("woolly heads" and "hairy heads," "furry ears" and "floppy ears") and things for a toddler to pull and push, including elephant ears that twitch and a frog's tongue that flicks. The text is clever and concise, and there's just enough of it, but not too much, to complement the illustrations. I thought my youngest, who is seven months, would most like the fuzzy, fluffy, scratchy, and smooth elements, and he does, but he likes the moving parts best too -- particularly when he gets to explore the book on his own terms instead of having Big Brother show him how it's done.
The downside to these tactile books is that in the past they haven't always held up well. The "shake, shake, shake" dog in said title is missing his head (it is a little disturbing) and the "swish,swish, swish" pig's tail in second said title has broken off (fortunately, not so disturbing). Ah, well. I consider these matters signs of a well-loved book. Heads, however, has a new element: some of the moving parts here are covered by a clear plastic sheet. This allows for just enough movement to keep little hands curious but likely a little protection to keep them from going overboard. I'm happy to see Heads has a chance of holding up a little longer than some of the previous titles. But if it doesn't, that's okay too. For now, it's a new favorite, one that gets a little love every night.
