140-141. Two Sensory Board Books

140. Sensory Ocean. Rose Harkness. Carlo Beranek (illustrator). 2024. 10 pages. [Source: Library] [2 stars] [Board book]

First sentence: Look! It's a Seahorse! Can you pet its scaly tummy? What does it look like? What does it feel like? Look! It's a seashell! Try rubbing it with your fingertips! What does it feel like? What does it sound like?

Premise/plot: On the surface, this appears to be a fairly straightforward interactive touch and feel book for young readers. And in some ways it does deliver that. The ocean setting may make it more unique than other touch and feel books, but, it also offers some limitations...for more literal thinkers.

My thoughts: I always want to love touch and feel books. They are my favorite types of board books to read and review. I love the tactile, textures. I love the interactive experience. I hope for the best each time.

Some readers may not care that there's not much authentic truth in this one. It seems silly to care that none of the "sensory" objects line up with reality in any way shape or form. But some of the interactive sensory elements just seem lazy in my personal opinion. The sea shell spread, for example, is particularly horrible. If you care about details. No sea shell *sounds* like that sound. And no sea shell looks like that either. A few spreads don't seem to even try. Asking readers to feel essentially smooth paper and pretend its a sensory experience. No "petting" an illustrated jellyfish isn't sensory anything. 

Little ones probably don't care. And some spreads do seem to be engaging in one way or another--visually, for example.

141. Sensory Pets. Rose Harkness. Carlo Beranek (illustrator) 2024. 10 pages. [Source: Library] [3 stars] [Board book]

First sentence: Look! It's a puppy! Can you pet his soft, furry ear? what does it look like? what does it feel like? Look! it's a cat! Can you scratch her tall scratching post, too? What does it feel like? What does it sound like?

Premise/plot: What you see IS what you get. This is a pet-themed touch and feel book. It stars a dog, a cat, a fish, some rabbits, and a bird. Some of the interaction comes from the pets themselves--or sometimes the environment.

My thoughts: I read Sensory Pets first. For the most part--four out of five spreads--I greatly appreciated it and found it solidly pleasing. The last one is a little questionable. But for the most part a HUGE quality difference from the Sensory Ocean which I reviewed earlier today.

 

© 2024 Becky Laney of Young Readers