Two-year-olds love lift-the-flap books! Not only do flaps strengthen fine motor skills, but they fill young children with a heady sense of control, as readers gleefully flip a flap back and forth (a trick that apparently never grows old), gently reassuring themselves that beloved people (and objects and animals) never disappear forever, but always return.
Author Chris Barash's lift-the-flap board book, Hi, Hello, Welcome (produced by PJ Publishing --PJ Library's in-house publishing arm) offers even more interactivity and satisfaction than a typical lift-the-flap book. Rosie Butcher's charming illustrations invite readers to engage in multiple “spot the difference” activities, in which young children can delightedly point out the subtle additions that each visitor makes to the host's cheerful dining room. The book's enthusiastic host models simple, practical ways of enacting the mitzvah (Hebrew for “commandment” or good deed) of hachnasat orchim (welcoming guests), while simultaneously demonstrating that taking care of guests can make a host feel just as good as the visitors. The Book Selection Committee hopes you and your family will enjoy knocking on doors, manipulating flaps, and exploring the ins and outs of welcoming guests as you read this book again and again.
September 1, 2022