Title: If You Ever Meet a Groovicorn & Never Touch a Monster
Author: Rosie Greening
Illustrator: Stuart Lynch
Age Group: 0 – 3
Synopsis: Fun touch-and-feel books the embrace silliness and fun.
The Lowdown:
Peanut is much less willing than Bug to sit down and read. For a long time she wasn’t even tempted by a book. It was such a 180 from Bug, that I was a bit taken aback. However, I stuck with it. I was patient. I didn’t force her to look at anything but I did start choosing which books I offered her carefully. In doing so, I found two of the “Gateway Books.” Both If You Ever Meet a Groovicorn & Never Touch a Monster do a fabulous job of incorporating both tactile stimulation and fun, short text that really appeal to babies on the move and succeeded not only in pulling Peanut in but enticing her to stay for the story.
Groovicorn has a very similar feel to Never Touch a Monster in that they are both essentially guide books to dealing with each of these mythological creatures. The grooivcorns each have their own psychedelic attributes but they all just want to dance. And why not? The monsters on the other hand are all smiles and friendly waves while the narrator warns the reader not to be fooled by their toothy grins. Each displays its own sense of silly, one with a bit more reverse-psychology than the other but silly none-the-less.
The illustrations are all bright and engaging. Of course, each page includes the tactile engagements as well. Groovicorn has more versatility including glitter paper; a leathery, shiny fabric; furry fabric; etc. but that doesn’t stop Peanut from enjoying the different dimensions of the Monster book that uses varying lengths and sizes of rubbery tabs and bumbs. She has her favorite pages in each and can flip to them at a drop of a hat. That in itself is comforting to me because I can recognize it as an attribute for a blossoming reader. So if you too have a rambunctious kid on-the-go, don’t worry! Patience, persistence, and a great Gateway Book are all you need.
Story Tips:
- You have to read these with emotion and fun accents. It just makes it so much better.
I need more!
We have a few Make Believe Ideas books. Here’s a review of their very cool Alphabet book and additional information regarding their other products. No Probllama is also an option for little llama lovers.
Add to my library:
