I Spy Little Christmas

"I spy a lady and a wooden kitty cat; an angel and a snowman's hat." The award-winning team of wordsmith Jean Marzollo and photographer Walter Wick maintains a perfect balance of simple text and engaging, colorful images in this holiday board book based on the favorite childhood game "I spy." Repetitive rhyming words in big print invite kids to seek out Christmastime objects. To reinforce the learning (and assist the youngest reader), the items in question are pulled out of the holiday setting on the right page and repeated on the opposite page with the text. Seekers match the bright red boot with its double in the wintertime setting of holly and snow, or pick out the three green Christmas tree cookies from a pile of cookie horses, hearts, and stars. This little board book is not only enchanting, but also an ideal developmental model for young children, teaching them vocabulary, matching, and prereading skills. Other books in the I Spy Little Books series include I Spy Little Numbers and I Spy Little Wheels. (Baby to preschool) --Emilie Coulter