6 Interactive Board Books to Lift, Press, Poke, Stroke, and Shake
Interactive board books are great fun. Well, books themselves are already interactive — you have to turn the pages, after all — but there are board books that have an additional element of interactiveness. Most common are the lift-the-flap ones, but there are also books that make sounds, or that have different textures for touching and feeling, or have instructions for actions to do as you read the book. As my baby is becoming a toddler and understanding more and more, interactive board books are a fun ‘level up’ in our reading adventures. Here are a few interactive board books that we have enjoyed or are looking forward to.
Hello Honeybees by Hannah Rogge, illustrated by Emily Dove
This book, when you open it, stands up like a beehive, which is pretty cool. There are two bees on ribbons that you can use to fly around a garden and fly back to the hive. This is a great educational book that explains what honeybees do. I especially liked this book because the plight of bees is concerning (basically, if honeybees go extinct, we’re screwed) and it’s never too early to start teaching little ones about environmental issues. (publication date 19 March 2019)
Seasons by Philip Giordano
Continuing the environmental theme, this is a seek-and-find book all about seasons with wheels to spin. There are colourful illustrations and this is a great book for learning about nature, animals, and seasons. (publication date 5 February 2019)
Wiggle! by Taro Gomi
A book that’s a game! Each page is missing part of an animal, and you wiggle your fingers through the holes to complete the animal.
This is My Kitten by Felicity Books, illustrated by Masumi Furukawa
One of the popular Usborne touchy feely books, this one has different textures (parts of the kitten) to touch and feel, and a button to press to hear the kitten meow.
Press Here by Herve Tullet
This was a picture book that was on the New York Times bestseller list and is now available as a board book, and how great is that! A fun book that asks the reader to press dots, press other dots, shake the book, shake the book more, clap hands…And each instruction leads to the dots ‘responding’ to the actions. (publication date 19 February 2019)
Mighty Mighty Construction Site Sound Book by Sherry Duskey Rinker and Tom Lichtenheld
This is a board book based on Mighty Mighty Construction Site, and is slightly abridged from the original book. What makes this one different (and interactive) is the sound bar on the side that makes five different sounds, to be pressed at various points during the story. And what toddler doesn’t like loud things? (publication date 5 March 2019)
