cover image Touch! My Big Touch-and-Feel Word Book

Touch! My Big Touch-and-Feel Word Book

Illus. by Xavier Deneux. Twirl (Chronicle, dist.), $18.99 (24p) ISBN 978-2-7459-8178-3

Deneux (the TouchThinkLearn series) introduces 150 words, objects, and animals using appealing tactile elements. The book opens with objects and locations closest to a child’s everyday experience—a boy rests under a fuzzy blanket in a “Bedtime” page, a rough-edged wooden “ride-on car” is one of several toys shown at “Playtime”—before moving outward to highlight the produce available at an outdoor market and more than a dozen vehicles that drive, sail, and fly. The second half of the book presents an array of animals, grouped by physical similarities (“Animals with Smooth Skin” includes a dolphin, whale, frog, and hippo) or type (“Birds”). There’s an impressive diversity of items for readers to explore and very possibly encounter for the first time—from mussels and clams to radishes and hazelnut spread. Ages 1–4. (Apr.)