New books for toddlers

[brightongirldownunder]

Hello all - hope this isn't a cheeky request, but I think enough people know me on here to trust I'm not a salesman, just a lowly childrens book illustrator/writer!

I'm in the middle of brainstorming for some new toddler books (2-4 years), especially ones that help learn to interact through noises/speech. Just wondered if any MNetters could give me some feedback really:-

What do you think is missing in the market at the moment?

Do your kids prefer animal or child characters?

Are flaps etc necessary?

How much detail do your children notice at this age?

I've got a series of characters that I've already drawn up but would really appreciate your thoughts -as long as its ok with MNHQ.

Thankyou!!

[brightongirldownunder]

Anyone?!!

[Flamesparrow]

Mine love flaps.

Erm, the rest - not too sure really. DS is oddly into where's wally (he'll be 4 at the end of the month).

[moomaa]

No need for flaps for age 2-4 (they are very good for age 1-2).

My DS (3) and DD (19 months) like animal characters better although they do lead to odd ideas, he told me it was silly that Zigby lived in a tree house, Zebras live in real houses. The exception is Buster, who he does like. DS does like books that make noises.

[brightongirldownunder]

thanks flame....

[brightongirldownunder]

Do your kids like to join in with the text? I'm thinking single words...
Its just that I've got friends who have been worried about their toddlers speech and I'd really like to create a series of books where they can learn words through imagery. DD is my guineapig at the moment.

[LostGirl]

dd DD is 2 and she loves all types of books:

the ones which have loads of pictures with just a single word underneath (ball, teddy, apple etc) which she now goes through and 'reads' by herself.

She loves detailed illustrations like the ones in peepo where she notices little things like the baby only has on one shoe and will then search through the illustration looking for the other one.

She does enjoy joining in with the text, more noticeable when it is in rhyme and she'll finish off the last word of the verse, or when there is a repeating refrain throughout the book.

I think most of the books she likes listening to have children as characters rather than animals.

Flaps are always good, but not vital, though much better when they have a picture underneath it. In some of the spot books the flaps just hide extra text.

Good luck!

[brightongirldownunder]

Thanks lostgirl - thats great.

[LostGirl]

If you could find a way to make the first type (the single words and pictures) more interesting for parents when they are reading it for the tenth time in an hour I would definitely buy it!

[needanamefast]

my 2.4 yr old ds loves detail!

he does like flap book but prefers the more story like ones- they both have their role, but i think flaps better for younger kids.

fave books here - all of shirley hughes eg dogger, alfie gets in first, julia donaldsons smartest giant in town, tiddler. richard scarry books eg a very busy town also v popular.

[brightongirldownunder]

yes think I'm going to steer clear of the flap thing. I've just finished a series of them and have to say they're a lot of trouble only to be ripped out by tiny hands.

[FaintlyMacabre]

Lostgirl has very kindly written my post for me

My 2 year old Ds sounds very similar- he loves finishing the sentence or rhyme. Also he loves 'deliberate mistakes'
eg DH: Blue Kangaroo belonged to Billy
DS: NO! Silly Daddy got it wrong!
DH: Blue Kangaroo belonged to Jilly
DS: NO!
etc etc.
So something that incorporated that, or encouraged them to pick the right word from a list of silly options, might be fun.

[Lionstar]

I'd say no to flaps past 2, and they only get ripped anyway (though I'd make an exception for Dear Zoo - a much loved book).

My DD is just about to turn 3 and she loves minute detail in books. We've just aquired Into the Forest by Anthony Browne and it's her current bedtime fave and all the intricate detail hidden in the woody background gives us lots of scope for exploring beyond the story. When she was younger she also loved The Baby's Catalogue and Each Peach Pear Plum by the Ahlbergs both of which had lots of extra detail to explore. Similarly any of the books illustrated by Axel Scheffler seem to have lots of detail to explore - little bugs and stuff.

[brightongirldownunder]

Thats good news about wanting detail - its what I specialise in!!
This is all great stuff - thanks guys! Keep it coming!

[megonthemoon]

My DS is almost 2 so perhaps a little bit younger than your target audience, but he is an avid booknivore and things he loves are:

1. Characters that he can get to know - so either a series of books with same character in different settings (e.g. Meg & Mog) or book with a strong character in it (e.g. Gruffalo)
   
   
2. Either very clear simple illustrations in bright colours (like Jan Pienkowski or Alex Ayliffe) or really detailed ones where he can search out little things (someone mentioned Peepo - anything Janet Ahlberg is wonderful for detail). Wishy washy, pastel coloured, fuzzy edged pictures are a bit 'whatever' in his (and my) eyes
   
   
3. He loves looking for little things and incredibly proud when he finds it - he always finds the tiny little bumble bees or dragonflies in the corner of a picture for example - stuff that even I haven't noticed or appreciated.
   
   
4. Anything where parents can do different voices and intonation - e.g. Gruffalo, anything where I have to imitate an animal or weird crash, bang, fizz sort of noise.
   
   
5. Food seems to be a key theme - we have surprisingly good 'conversations' (given his age) about the books with food in them. Something related to day to day life I guess, and I can always then follow that up with showing him contents of fridge or what i'm making for dinner for example so book links in to real life really easily.
   
   
6. Loves animal characters more than people I'd say
   
   
7. Flaps are whatever, unless they hide something really exciting! Same with 3D type illustrations and slidey things - they just get ripped within about 2 seconds
   
   
8. He responds really well to buttons with noises. We have a Spot book (not this one but like it) where you press buttons to get noises associated with text (e.g. bouncy ball, doorbell) and he is great at spotting the indicator picture in the text or hearing me say the word and then pressing the right button - makes him concentrate on the story and listen for the key word from me. really surprises me how capable he is at this at his age - clearly concentrates hard to hear the word and associates it with the picture and the noise.

[Lionstar]

meg I agree about everything EXCEPT having noisy buttons - I hate them! Kiddies might like them, but only for the annoyance factor. And they can be quite bulky and the books don't sit nicely on the shelf (how uptight does that make me sound).

Your 4th point is a good one, words that are sounds are good, and even better when they are written/drawn to match e.g. Whooosh would sweep across the page starting small letters and getting bigger. There must be a word that describes those kinds of illustrated words?

[megonthemoon]

oh i hate the buttons too, but it's the most concentration i've ever seen with DS so i'm prepared to live with it for a little while longer (then might be removing the battery...)

yes - those sorts of illustrated words are great fun. Meg & Mog books are great at this noise words

[KerenHappuch]

Lionstar - illustrating words like that is called typographical iconicity. (Just showing off, sorry!)

Our 3 year old DS loves all sorts of books and does still like flaps, pop ups etc. He currently adores anything with trains in it, not so bothered about illustrations, but loves trying to "read" books to Teddy and can remember huge chunks of text. Don't know if that helps at all.

[Takver]

My dd loved books with real photographs at that age. Not the usborne thing of a cutout photograph surrounded by white, but a proper clear picture. Also books that related to her real life (so photos of a farm, tractors, animals etc in her case, presumably cars, shops, fire engines etc would hit that spot more widely though!)

She also loved the 'where's the green parrot' kind of book where you're looking for a particular thing in the picture. But much better where its part of the story (wtf is with the random ducks in usborne books?).

So, her ideal book would probably have been a series of nice big clear photographs of a farm, where she was looking for a particular animal or item in each photograph (say the farm cat), perhaps with a bit of text about the daily life of the farm.