My First Book of the Body

Chuck Murphy is absolutely one of the best toddler/small children's books authors. We own many of his books and I highly recommend checking his slide n' seek and razzle dazzles series. He designs a lot of educational, but interactive books that make learning fun because the reader can participate...finally someone who understands the young child's mind! This book is not your standard board book that can withstand being flung around, stepped on, and chewed on. It is a hardback, but the pages are the bendable, sturdy cardboard type. This book opens with a girl covering her eyes and asking "What part of your body do you see with?" Then you open the flap to reveal her hands uncovering her eyes and looking in the mirror answering "You see with your eyes!" It continues through hearing, smelling, tasting, breathing, digesting food, how you can take care of your body, and why we need sleep (it is on this last page that you open the flap to see a pop-up of children playing). The part about breathing and the digestive system gets a little complex as Murphy shows the lungs and digestive system. These are very abstract concepts for the 1-3 year-old crowd. It doesn't devalue the book's worth or make it totally inappropriate for these little ones - you can skip these pages and work on them later. I like that the illustrations are pretty simple and feature a wide range of children from multiple ethnicities and races, both boys and girls. I have to warn you though, my copy says this book was published in 1995, but the illustrations, design of the pages, and kids' clothing/hairstyles look like they are right out of the 70's-early 80's ;-) Over all: Highly Recommended.

This is a good book about the body that preschoolers love. It's not complicated, but still answers the qustions. It has questions like, What do you see with?, and What do you hear with? It has nine qustions and a colorful pop-up at the end.