Review: Begin Smart Books - 18 months to 2 years

Summary: These colorful trucks are ready to go to all sorts of places, from an apple orchard to a dairy! Every time a page is turned, one truck leaves the garage and goes out to pick up its load. It's a fun, rhyming book and a great way to practice counting up and down from five. -- Begin Smart

Summary: Give a cheer for hands! This board book is a celebration of hands and fingers! They push swings, dig in dirt, pet kittens, and build with blocks. The fun, rhyming text is sure to get read aloud again and again. -- Begin Smart

Begin Smart has released two new books for children ages 18 months to 2 years old called HOW MANY BEEPS? and HOORAY FOR HANDS! Both books are precious and I think toddlers are going to enjoy them!

HOW MANY BEEPS? is just adorable for boys and girls alike. I love all of the educational parts of this book including colors and counting, but kids are going to like pressing the button and making the trucks go beep! Not only does the book teach about numbers, but it also shows kids the ordinal words like first, second, third, etc.

The pictures in this book are too cute. The are filled with lots of people, vehicles and animals; and they are all brightly colored. The board book is super-sturdy so even the roughest kids can play with this book without damaging it.

HOW MANY BEEPS? encourages one-to-one correspondence, counting up from one to five and down again, recognition of sounds, and parent-child interaction.

HOORAY FOR HANDS! is a more traditional storybook, but I think it's still very sweet. In this book, children can learn all about their hands and what they can do. There are few words per page, but just enough to keep little ones interested.

I really liked the illustrations in this book. There are lots of pictures of children playing with all sorts of things including drums, rubber ducks, and even dirt. I think kids are going to like following along with the pictures as an adult reads the story to them, and I can imagine that they might even get a few ideas about how they can use their own hands.

HOORAY FOR HANDS! encourages language production, imitation, small motor development and large motor development.

I highly recommend Begin Smart books for babies of any age. As the holidays approach, you should really keep these books in mind for gifts. I think they are the perfect present for the little ones in your life.

Thanks to the publisher for sending me these books.