Don't hide this one away for Christmas! (Usborne Touchy Feely Books: Hide and Seek Christmas - Fiona Watt)

Member Name: mummy2harry

Product:	Usborne Touchy Feely Books: Hide and Seek Christmas - Fiona Watt
Date:	05/12/08 (177 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lovely pictures, fun to read and share

Disadvantages: Small flaps are tricky for little fingers

Working in a library is somewhat dangerous for a serial reader like me. I'm constantly paying attention to the books coming in and going out as I'm scanning and stamping them, often keeping a little bit of paper in my pocket to write down books that look like they'll be a good read as well! But its also good for Harry, as I am encouraging him to be a reader like his mum, and I bring home lots of books for him. I noticed this one coming back to the library last week, and the child was reluctant to give it up, so that told me it was a good book! I quickly grabbed it for Harry before it went back out, and now we've been enjoying it too!

The book is another wonderful idea from Usborne, who create such fantastic books for toddlers and children which have been so popular for many years. This particular book is part of their touchy-feely series, and is also a Hide and Seek book with flaps as well, so plenty to keep a child's interest when reading this together! The cover is a lovely wintery scene with 4 snowmen in a snow filled park with Christmas trees, and the snowmen all have touchy-feely hats, so the book draws you in just from the front cover.

The book contains double-paged spread Christmas scenes with plenty to look at and do on each page. The first double page is meant to be like Santa's workshop, with lots of elves making toys, a cosy fireplace and lots of flaps and feely patches for your toddler. There is a small amount of text on each page, but just enough for the parent to read aloud, which tells a little story about the page, and then a question to prompt your child to search the page for the answer. The first page has 7 flaps to lift and open, and 3 textured patches for your children to touch. As well as the textures, lots of bits in the book have been made shiny with silver foil such as the sparks from the fire place, and the buttons on the elves braces. This continues throughout the book, and just makes it look a bit prettier!

The illustrations in the book are simply gorgeous, and really set that Christmas scene for the child and the adult reading it with them. My favourite page is the Santa and his sleigh, with a big fat Santa with a gorgeously soft white beard standing next to an enormous sleigh convered in stars, and lots of presents which are flaps, so your children can peek inside the present for a treat! You can tell care has been taken to ensure the drawings are a top standard, and for a book mainly based on its pictures, this is of paramount importance. Usborne certainly don't fail to deliver on this, and the pictures are a joy to look at and talk about with Harry, all easily recognisable by a child.

Although the book is a great idea, I have found that there are some very small flaps on the pages, and even Harry, who is a very co-ordinated 2.5 year old, really has to concentrate hard to lift them up. He much prefers the bigger ones he can easily grab a hold of, as he, like many children, gets frustrated if it takes too long to do. Perhaps this would alienate the book from much younger readers, but of course mum or dad would be on hand to help them. It's just a shame Usborne had to include such small flaps in a book aimed for very young readers. There is an advent calendar of sorts included on the back pages, containing 25 flaps which is good fun, and at least here the flaps aren't too small and Harry finds these easier. You are meant to lift one up a day, and a lovely Christmas picture is found under each flap. It's good fun and a nice extra element to have in the book.

If you have a toddler who loves reading and is just beginning to understand Christmas, then I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this book to you for Christmas reading. It is really fun, and a great read, prompting lots of discussion about Christmas and the things inside the book. The pages are big and chunky so the book is quite durable, and the flaps are made of a good cardboard too, so shouldn't rip off too easily, although care should of course be taken!The pictures are gorgeous, filled with lovely bright, warm colours and are just a joy to look at. Harry really loves this book, and its not hard to see why. The flaps and touchy-feely atches make the book a bit more fun and it is a lovely book to sit and share indoors with this cold winter weather!

ISBN: 978-0746087831. Available in Hardback, which contains 10 big chunky pages. Published by Usborne Publishing in September 2007. Available on Amazon for £6.84 (December 2008 price).

http://www.usborne.co.uk

Thank you for reading!

Summary: A lovely Christmas book to share