TOYS

A bright pink cover contains a simple yet ingenious vocabulary builder for young babies. Spread by spread, readers encounter a teddy bear, a doll, a train, a car, a boat, a duck and a puzzle. On verso, the name of the toy appears in clean black letters against a white background; on recto, a black silhouette of that toy appears in a colored square. All very basic—but! A triangular cutout at the bottom right of the colored square begs it to be lifted, revealing a full-color photograph of a representative toy, thus both introducing the general concept with the high-contrast graphic and leading children to the particular. In a refreshing twist on this sort of presentation, the doll is a dark-skinned girl with long, kinky, black yarn hair. An unassuming little gem. (Board books. 6-18 mos.)