Kicking my legs like a donkey.  Dancing to get a bug out of my shirt.  Pressing a yellow dot to see what happens to it.  Gleefully yelling, “NO!”  to repeated appeals from a pigeon to drive a bus.

Interactive books are a fantastic way to easily engage little readers (even the most rambunctious).  Unfortunately, as my Mama and I have found, they are difficult to do well.  Some “interactive” books have fuzz to feel, doors to open, slots to slide, or buttons to push, but these gimmicks often add very little to the story, and they don’t have much staying power for me.  The very best interactive books, however, manage to do a much better job of using manipulatives or interaction to enhance or even become the story.  These are the books that I return to over and over again.

By no means an exhaustive list, here are a few of my favorite interactive books in order from least to most complex.  I dislike putting ages on these books because I read them at many different stages for many different reasons, and other children deserve not to be pigeonholed, too.

  Are You a Cow? by Sandra Boynton:  I like saying “No.”  Really, really like saying, “No.”  It was one of my first words and continues to be a favorite.  Hence, the appeal of Are You a Cow?  The question is addressed to the reader and begs to be answered.  No, no, no!  What a great concept!

  From Head to Toe Board Book by Eric Carle:  This book is a good one because the animals in the book do all sorts of fun movements and then ask the reader, “Can you do it?”  Some movements are easy enough for a one year old, and others are more complicated and definitely for older children (donkey kick!).

   Alphabet (Paula Wiseman Books) by Matthew Van Fleet:  Alphabet is one of those rare touch and feel books that is exceptionally well done.  Not only are the illustrations funny and the animals imbued with loads of character, but it’s a rhyming alphabet book that incorporates the “touch and feel” element into the rhyme.  This book is now on my independent reading bookshelf, and I still pull it out about once a week.

  Can You Make a Scary Face? by Jan Thomas:  This book not only addresses the reader, but it asks the reader to do things to help the story along.  Like do the chicken dance to get a tickly bug out of your shirt.  And make a scary face to chase away a GIANT HUNGRY FROG!  How fun is that?

  Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems:  This book has become a classic.  It begins with a simple request from a bus driver going on break: “Don’t let the pigeon drive the bus.”  The reader’s job, then, is to say, “No!”  Over and over again.  (See above Are You a Cow? review for more about my fondness for the word, “No.”)  I heart this book.

  Press Here by Henre Tullet:  Ahhh!  The granddaddy of all interactive children’s books!  I’ve been reading this book for a long time now.  In fact, I read it yesterday.  It starts with, “Ready?” on a page with one yellow dot.  The next page says, “Press here and turn the page.”  Now there are two yellow dots.  Woah.  That’s crazy.  The rest of the book progresses from there, with the reader pressing dots, blowing dots, turning on lights, tilting the book, and clapping, with each action creating an amazing reaction.  What a cool book.

  Have You Ever Seen a Sneep? by Tasha Pym and Joel Stewart:  In the tradition of There’s a Wocket in My Pocket, a little boy in the book addresses the reader about a variety of strange creatures that inhabit his life, and after each creature has been introduced, the boy asks the reader if he or she has ever seen such a being.  I like to mess with my Mama and say, “Yes!”  The illustrations are really well done, and the creatures are amusing.  At the end, the little boy asks if he can come live with the reader.  Ha!

  The Big Blue Spot by Peter Holwitz:  Not the most interactive book on this list, but the spot in the book talks to the reader and asks him or her to tilt the book.  I love this book though, and I’ve loved it for a really long time.  My Mama had to buy us a copy because we checked it out of the library for 12 weeks.  The spot is looking for a friend (whom he finds toward the end), and this idea of friendship is very interesting to me.  Simple text, simple message, simple illustrations, golden story.

  The Monster at the End of This Book (Sesame Street) (Little Golden Book) by Jon Stone and Michael Smollin:  Classic!  Grover spends the book completely freaked out about a monster that’s at the end of the book, and he implores the reader to, “Stop turning pages!” over and over again.  He even goes so far as to brick up the page to prevent the reader from turning it.   I love this book because Grover is such a character and I feel as though I have the power to influence the story.  Love it!

Happy reading!

–Luke (blog co-start, age two and a half)