Grow Up!

Rating:
Summary: Grow Up is a Wow!
Review: Author illustrator Nina Laden delivers a clever concept book in eye-catching acrylics. In simple patterned text and peekaboo windows, children will discover what different living things grow up to be. A playful kitten watches two orange and black fish swimming in a tank. The fish are drawn inside a window. Turn the page and the fish become eyes of a grown cat. Some of the figures may be familiar to your child, like the kitten or a puppy. Others may be delightfully fresh, such as a tadpole or a seedling. Square in shape, this board book is perfectly sized for eager little hands. The mirror on the last page reflects your little one's face that is sure to be smiling! When we discovered this book, my girls (aged 3 yrs 9 mos and 2) asked me to read it again and again. I knew I had a hit! We plan to search for Laden's previous books as well.

Rating:
Summary: Grow Up with Great Books !
Review: I was so excited to find out that Nina Laden had come out with another board book. My 22 month old daughter really loves this new one and has practically memorized it. (She has already loved to death Peek-a-Who and Ready, Set, Go!)

At this age, my daughter is beginning to grasp the concept of little to big. It's a lot of fun to see her apply what she has learned from Grow Up! to the world around her. She is currently fascinated with differentiating babies and big girls, and from the number of times I have had to clean her kisses and nose prints off the book she obviously can't get enough of being a "big girl."

My daughter and I love the illustrations in this book (as with all of them); they are vivid, playful and clever. We have had a lot of fun making up silly guesses as to what is on the next page, and although we have read the book a couple hundred times now, she still gets excited to turn the page and announce what the image has grown up to be.

I would recommend this book concept-wise for children over eighteen months, but because there is so much to look at and talk about in the book I would also highly recommend it for any age.