Interactive Books for Children

Interactive books can be used with babies and toddlers.

They include fun, exciting things to do while a child is engaged in a story.

Other forms of media are hard to compete with, but a book with things to do, draws in children and parents alike

Interaction with a book and its characters helps develop a child's love of books. When children associate books with fun, they naturally want to read books themselves!

What is an Interactive Book?

An interactive book is a book that requires some action by the reader(s). Interactive childrens books tend to draw the participants in to the story and children can get really involved and excited about the story.

Here are some of the actions your child might be asked to perform:

• Find a hidden picture – Often a character is hidden within a picture. Finding a picture within a picture helps to develop visual discrimination skills, or the ability to pick out shapes. Examples of hidden picture books are The Complete Book of Farmyard Tales (Usborne) by Heather Amory and 1001 Bugs to Spot (Usborne) by Emma Helbrough.
• Open a flap – For very young children, this develops gross motor skills. A cute example of this kind is Sam's Sandwich by David Pelham.

• Touch a fun texture – This develops tactile discrimination or being able to tell one object from another by touching it. Childrens books may use soft (fur), rough (sandpaper), or even sticky to touch objects. These interactive books are best for babies and toddlers. A good example of a touch and feel book is Baby Einstein: Violet's House by Julie Aigner-Clark .

• Solve a puzzle - Crime And Puzzlement: 24 Solve-them-yourself Picture Mysteries (Bk.1) for children aged 9-12 has mysteries that children solve by finding clues in the pictures.

• Go on an adventure - The Great Search series for children is fun for “adventures”. A popular example of an adventure book is Usborne's Usborne The Great Undersea Search (Great Searches)
• Explore a safe website – The websites that the books link to in Usborne books have been checked for safety and relevance. These books are used with many homeschool curriculums and to supplement other school programs. A great way to introduce your child to the internet. Your child might be asked to go to a website to DO something. Usborne's The Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece by Lesley Sims is an example that children love, partly because of the humor. This book is an excellent home school resource and has high quality photos and information. (ages 9-12)

• Build something

• Identify a sound in an interactive sound book. - A variation of this kind of childrens book is Moo Baa La La La. Children have to correct the sounds when the book makes mistakes. The silliness (and it keeps getting funnier) makes this a favorite for many young children. (ages baby-preschool)

  This book is also available in a Spanish version, Muu. Beee. ¡Así fue! / Moo, Baa, La La La.

If you have a child or grandchild, consider buying some interactive books for him. You'll find that you will have lots of fun reading them together. Just don't do it at bedtime, or you'll find that your child might be too wound up (from all the fun) to go to sleep.

Books with interaction are GREAT fun!