35. This Little Dinosaur (Board book)

35. Board book: This Little Dinosaur. Ingela P. Arrhenius (illustrations). 2026. 10 pages. [Source: Library] [3 stars, interactive book, dinosaurs]

First sentence: This little dinosaur has soft shiny spines. This little dinosaur has big, pointy teeth.

Premise/plot: This board book is published by Nosy Crow. It is an interactive board book for the youngest of readers.

My thoughts: I can be VERY opinionated when it comes to interactive, touch and feel books. I am an overthinker. Many readers are not overthinkers. Most toddlers are not going to overthink this one. I would say all, but, there may always be young Sheldon Cooper's out there who would.

I did enjoy the texture of the dinosaur on the cover. This texture is repeated once in the book. (On the cover it is padded underneath. On the last page it is not.) Most of the textures are soft fabric, padded fabric, sparkly fabric. I cannot emphasize enough that SPARKLY and shiny are not things that you can touch and feel. They are just not. I also thought it weird that "pointy" teeth are soft fabric--padded. Teeth shouldn't squish. I also don't think spines would be soft.


© 2026 Becky Laney of Young Readers

109. (Board Book) There There Little Kitten

109. Board book: There There Little Kitten. Anna Milbourne. 2025. 10 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars]

First sentence: Little kitten is feeling lonely. Maybe we can be friends.
There, there, little kitten.
Let's tickle under your chin.
Oh dear, it's starting to rain!
A big rain drop has sploshed
onto little kitten's nose.
There, there, little kitten.
Let's stroke your nose better.

Premise/plot: There There Little Kitten is a touch and feel interactive board book for young readers. Each spread includes a touch and feel element for young children. The book stars a little kitten who needs lots of affection.

My thoughts: I enjoyed this one. I did. I love cats. I tend to enjoy many touch and feel board books. Not all of them all of the time. But this one was good. If your little one loves cats or pets in general, then this one would be a fine choice.


© 2025 Becky Laney of Young Readers

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

110-113 Board Books by Fiona Watt

110. That's Not My Tiger. [Board book] Fiona Watt. Illustrated by Rachel Wells. 2010/2023. 10 pages. [Source: Library] [4 stars]

First sentence: That's not my tiger. Its ears are too fluffy. That's not my tiger. Its paws are too smooth. That's not my tiger. Its tongue is too rough.

Premise/plot: One of the books in the THAT'S NOT MY....series by USBORNE. This one stars a tiger. Each spread features a touch-and-feel element for little ones to experience. The text--as you can see from my "first sentence" is predictable. (Which is not a bad quality for a board book for the youngest of readers). It is patterned. 

My thoughts: I have a weakness for touch and feel books. That does not mean I approach them without a critical eye. One of my pet peeves is when publishers try to pass off "shiny" as a texture to touch or feel. I enjoyed this one. The elements to touch (and feel) were good--for the most part. I think the tongue's rough texture could have been rougher if I'm being completely honest. The most satisfying texture to touch (and feel) was the BUMPY texture which represented the tiger's teeth.

111. That's Not My Lion. [Board book] Fiona Watt. 2001/2024. 10 pages. [Source: Library] [4 stars]

First sentence: That's not my lion. Its ears are too soft. That's not my lion. Its paws are too rough. That's not my lion. Its tail is too fluffy.

Premise/plot: One of the books in the THAT'S NOT MY...series by USBORNE. This one stars a lion. Each spread features a touch-and-feel element for little ones to experience. The text--as you can see from my "first sentence" is predictable. (Which is not a bad quality for a board book for the youngest of readers). It is patterned. 

My thoughts: I have a weakness for touch and feel books. That does not mean I approach them without a critical eye. One of my pet peeves is when publishers try to pass off "shiny" as a texture to touch or feel. I enjoyed this one. The elements to touch (and feel) were good--for the most part. My least favorite texture to "touch" was the "shiny" teeth. Shiny is NOT a texture. My favorite texture to touch was the rough texture of the paws. 

112. That's Not My Teddy [Board book] Fiona Watt. Illustrated by Rachel Wells. 1999/2021/2024. 12 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars]

First sentence: That's not my teddy. Its nose is too soft. That's not my teddy. Its feet are too rough. That's not my teddy. Its patch is too squashy.

Premise/plot: One of the books in the THAT'S NOT MY....series by USBORNE. This one stars a teddy bear. Each spread features a touch-and-feel element for little ones to experience. The text--as you can see from my "first sentence" is predictable. (Which is not a bad quality for a board book for the youngest of readers). It is patterned. 

My thoughts: I have a weakness for touch and feel books. That does not mean I approach them without a critical eye. One of my pet peeves is when publishers try to pass off "shiny" as a texture to touch or feel. I enjoyed this one. The elements to touch (and feel) were good--for the most part.

This board book I'm rating five stars because ALL of the touch and feel elements were solidly good. There were many that I found appealing and fun. I enjoyed the rough feet of the Panda. If the book has a weakness, which I didn't really feel was a deal breaker for me, was the similarity between all of the textures. There were only two textures that offered differences--the "squashy" texture of the patch and the rough texture of the paws (of the Panda). The rest were just variations of "woolly, soft, fuzzy, and furry." Again, I loved all those textures so I didn't find it problematic for me.

 113. That's Not My Tractor... [Board book] Fiona Watt. 2001. 10 pages. [Source: Library] [3 stars]

First sentence: That's not my tractor. Its trailer is too rough. That's not my tractor. Its wheels are too smooth. That's not my tractor. Its window is too shiny. 

Premise/plot: One of the books in the THAT'S NOT MY....series by USBORNE. This one stars a tractor. Each spread features a touch-and-feel element for little ones to experience. The text--as you can see from my "first sentence" is predictable. (Which is not a bad quality for a board book for the youngest of readers). It is patterned. 

My thoughts: I have a weakness for touch and feel books. That does not mean I approach them without a critical eye. One of my pet peeves is when publishers try to pass off "shiny" as a texture to touch or feel. I enjoyed this one. 

On the one hand this book has the widest variety of textures to those in the series that I've read. On the other hand, several of the textures were not textures at all. SHINY is not a texture you can feel. Neither is sparkly. Smooth is technically a texture--but more a lack of texture perhaps. This one offers "rough, lumpy, and bumpy." Now that I'm analyzing more closely--perhaps this one doesn't have the best variety. Three essentially smooth textures and three essentially bumpy textures. 

 

 

© 2024 Becky Laney of Young Readers

156. Board book: Christmas Kitten

 Board book: Christmas Kitten: A Touch and Feel Book. Rosie Adams. Illustrated by Lucy Barnard. 2022. [September] 10 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: The clock strikes twelve on Christmas Eve; all is quiet in the house. Kitten is curled up fast asleep by the fireplace with Mouse.

Premise/plot: What you see is what you get--a touch and feel Christmas-themed board book for young cat lovers. (Not taste-specific at all). There's a touch-and-feel element on every spread of this one--for better or worse. Some are logical (in my opinion): kitten's fur, teddy bear's fur. Some are neutral--Santa's beard. (His beard feels awfully similar to the kitten and teddy bear fur). Two are just absurd. The tip of Rudolph's nose??? A snowman's belly? I'm pretty sure that sparkly glitter is NOT how a snowman feels. And I wouldn't want to encourage touching glitter. 

My thoughts: I've mostly spilled my thoughts above. I liked the soft, furry textures of three of the spreads. The two odd ones out I didn't care for at all. Well, Rudolph's nose wasn't unpleasant to the touch, but, I found it an odd thing to *want* to touch.

This is a gimmicky board book. I can't fault it for its super-cuteness. I mean, who wouldn't want to touch and feel the grey kitten's belly????

 

© 2023 Becky Laney of Young Readers

Board book: Scratchie: A Touch and Feel Cat-Venture

Scratchie:  A Touch-and-Feel Cat-Venture. Maria Putri. 2019. Simon & Schuster. 2019. 24 pages.

First sentence: Hi there, human! I'm Scratchie, the cat. And just like my name, I like to scratch stuff to keep my claws super sharp! Let's scratch things together.

Premise/plot: Touch-and-feel board books are nothing new or particularly unique. But this one has a fun premise. It is inviting readers to SCRATCH things along with the cat hero, Scratchie.

My thoughts: Don't expect the objects that you are "scratching" (aka touching/feeling) to remotely feel like what they are supposed to be. With a few minor exceptions. The textures aren't bad; they just don't correlate with their objects. Probably my favorite textures were the one on the cover and the "paper towel" (aka wash rag.)

I love the premise of this one. I do. But I was slightly disappointed. This does not mean that little ones won't like it.

© 2019 Becky Laney of Young Readers

I Like Vegetables

I Like Vegetables. Lorena Siminovich. 2011. Candlewick Press. 10 pages.

Above
Below
Carrots


Inside
Outside
Peas

I Like Vegetables is one of four titles available in Lorena Siminovich's Petit Collage series published by Candlewick. Previous titles include: I Like Toys (a concept board book about shapes), I Like Fruit (a concept board book about colors), and I Like Bugs (a concept board book about counting to five). And I must admit it is one of the best in the series. I thought it was really clever to use vegetables to show opposites! That harvest time is a great time to learn about opposites. The opposites included in the book are: above/below, inside/outside, tall/short, big/little, and empty/full.

It is a touch-and-feel book. And I enjoyed those elements on these pages. I especially liked the carrots and the peas! Well, for that matter I loved the corn too! If I'm being honest, I loved it all! I just *wish* that a touch-and-feel book would try a little harder to get the pumpkin right. Because I am relatively sure that most pumpkins do not feel velvet-like.

It is easy to recommend this one, to recommend the whole series! I just love the art and design of these!!!

© 2011 Becky Laney of Young Readers

I Like Toys

I Like Toys. Lorena Siminovich. 2011. Candlewick Press. 10 pages.

Circle
ball
yo-yo
car


Triangle
playhouse
spinning top
sailboat

I was a big, big fan of Lorena Siminovich's I Like Bugs and I Like Fruit. So I was super-excited to learn that there were two new books in the  Petit Collage series: I Like Toys and I Like Vegetables.

I Like Toys is a concept board book about shapes. The circle shape can be found in a ball, a yo-yo, and the tires on a car; the square shape can be found in a jack-in-the-box, a box, and a tower of blocks. Four shapes are includes in all: triangle, rectangle, square, and circle. Each page has a touch-and-feel element to it (the tires on the car, the sail on the sailboat, a block in the block tower, etc.

The art and design of this one makes it fun. While I wouldn't say this is my favorite book in the series, I can easily say that I'd recommend the series as a whole. The whole series is high quality.

© 2011 Becky Laney of Young Readers

I Like Bugs

I Like Bugs. Lorena Siminovich. 2010. March 2010. Candlewick. 10 pages.

I'll be honest. I don't like bugs. But. I do like I Like Bugs. I like it so, so much! I Like Bugs is a touch-and-feel book and a counting book. What are we counting? Bugs, of course!

1 one dragonfly
2 two butterflies
3 three beetles

I liked the different textures. I especially liked the texture for the beetles. I liked the bright, bold colors. The bright blue butterflies and the red flowers especially. Overall, I really enjoyed the art, the illustrations. The collage aspects made this board book extra special.

I would definitely recommend this one!

© Becky Laney of Young Readers

Snuggly Time

This is a Fisher-Price board book published by HarperCollins. (I couldn't find any information on the author.) 2009.

Snuggly Time is "a soft to touch" book for babies. (Why they couldn't say that it was a touch-and-feel book, I'm not sure...) (The recommended age is 6 months and up.) What's this one about? The things in a baby's life that are soft and touchable. A blanket. A towel. A teddy bear. A pair of pajamas. Etc. It blends real photographs with cartoon illustrations. (I find that slightly strange, but that could just be me.)

My blanket keeps me warm and cozy.
Touch my soft blanket.

I love to crawl on the rug.
Feel the fuzzy rug.

© Becky Laney of Young Readers

I Love Fall!

Inches, Alison. 2009. I Love Fall! Illustrated by Hiroe Nakata.

I like the idea of this concept book. It's a touch and feel book about the fall season. I don't know about you, but there's something inviting about this little girl. It makes me want to like the book.

I love fall!
In the fall, the air is chilly,
but my scarf feels warm and woolly.
Scritch, scratch!
Rub my woolly scarf!

I think this one works for the most part. (Especially if you're not picky). But it's not quite right either. The scarf doesn't feel woolly. It feels soft and fleecy. Or perhaps soft and velvety. (Definitely not something you could scritch or scratch. Just saying.) And this is the case with so many of the touch-and-feel items. The "smooth pumpkin" doesn't come close to feeling like an actual pumpkin. It feels like plastic or vinyl. (It's shiny and reflective too.) Granted I haven't felt up all that many pumpkins in my lifetime, but smooth isn't the first thing that comes to mind. One other small thing that I noticed, and then I'll be quiet.

Grandma bakes pumpkins
and apple treats.
She gives me yummy pies
that are warm and sweet.

Crinkle, crinkle!
Feel the shiny pie tin that
I put in my basket.

Anyone want to tell me exactly how shiny feels? Shiny is something that you see with your eyes, not touch with your fingers. The pie tin--which is the touchable part of this spread--actually comes closest to feeling like the object it is supposed to depict (unlike the smooth pumpkin and dry leaves), but the feeling isn't shiny. (I should also note that they got the wicker basket part right of this touch-and-feel.)

© Becky Laney of Young Readers

Beautiful Babies

I really enjoyed Karma Wilson's Beautiful Babies. It's a touch-and-feel board book with a fun theme: babies--baby animals to be exact. What's more fun than 'petting' baby animals? Simple text accompanies the pictures. "In the spring when things turn green, many babies can be seen..." I really like the inclusion of the mirror at the end of the book. "But none are as sweet as baby You! Oh, you beautiful baby!" Mirrors are something that (many) babies just find fascinating. So this one is cute and fun.

© Becky Laney of Young Readers

Welcome Winter!

Welcome Winter is a delightful book; it is one of the Little Scholastic books published by Scholastic. It's designed to appeal to the baby to two crowd. It's a board book. It's a touch-and-feel book. And it's a concept book--the concept being winter one of the four seasons of the year.

Texas babies may not find much familiar with Welcome Winter. (Though of course there was that snow storm last year that surprised everyone.) But whether you are expecting snow or not, this book is a fun little addition to your library.

Here is how it begins, "It's winter! Snowflakes fall in front of your eyes."

There is much to do in this one. I loved running my fingers across the crinkled plastic (not sure of exact medium???) to make the snow crunching noise. And the plush hat that was oh-so-soft was fun as well.

© Becky Laney of Young Readers

Farm Friends

Roan, Anna. 2008. Farm Friends. Illustrated by A.M. Stockhill.

I like touch and feel books. I like board books. I like them a lot. This board book has five touch-and-feel friends for young fingers to enjoy: a sheep, a pig, a cat, a cow, and a duck. The story itself is straight forward. It is a day in the life of farm animals--sunrise to sunset. The text isn't spectacular. But it does what it does well.

On the busy little farm
There's so much to do.
Rooster starts the day
With a cock-a-doodle-doo.

Around the barn door
Five friendly faces peep.
Chick, Cat, Cow, Piglet,
And la-a-a-st comes Sheep.

Bright colors. Farm animals. Friendship.



© Becky Laney of Young Readers

Jungle Gym

Krensky, Stephen. Jungle Gym: A Touch and Feel Counting Book. Illustrated by Marsha Gray Carrington.

Jungle Gym is a sturdy book for toddlers. (I'm not sure if the pages are quite thick enough to be classified as a board book. But the pages are considerably sturdier than the paper found in most picture books.) The book features jungle animals--lions, elephants, giraffes, hippos, etc. working out at the gym. These jungle animals know the importance of exercise being a part of a healthy life style. As I mentioned, the concept of this one is counting. Counting from one to ten. And it's a touch-and-feel book as well. So we get to feel the scales of the snake and the lion's mane, etc.

© Becky Laney of Young Readers