Board book: First Words

First Words: Early Learning at the Museum. The British Museum. 2019. Candlewick Press. 22 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: apple, duck, airplane, cat, banana, bus

Premise/plot: This board book is a first words book--a concept book for very young children. What makes this one unique are the illustrations. The illustrations are PHOTOGRAPHS of objects/works in the British Museum. The index at the back of the book offers more information for parents. For example, the apple--the first word in the book--is a photograph of a watercolor drawing of apples and grapes by Frederick Thomas Baynes (1844-1874).

My thoughts: I love the idea of this one! It is an interesting book. I love the diversity of the objects--the collection is global in scope. The objects also span the centuries--some are very old, others are contemporary. One of the older objects represented is a linen ball from Egypt circa 30 BCE to 641 CE. One of the newer objects represented is a ceramic cat from Japan circa 2000.

Text: 3 out of 5
Illustrations: 5 out of 5
Total: 8 out of 10

© 2019 Becky Laney of Young Readers