ABC3D by Marion Bataille

This nice alphabet pop-up book is new on the market! The cover is one of those cool optical plates (sort of holographic), where what you see changes depending on your angle of approach.

I think kids-of-all-ages like this sort of thing. Just as we like books where objects pop-up and/or move. To test this out, I not only read ABC3D with my own two children -- currently 6 and 8 years old -- but I loaned it to my son's kindergarten teacher from last year, so that we could get her classroom's opinion. The feedback was immediate and positive. Both the teacher and her assistant, and their room full of kids LOVED the book. I saw Mrs. P~ that very afternoon and she said that ABC3D was such a hit that they made special time that day to read it again in the afternoon.

One of the reasons for the books popularity is that the pop-ups are clever. While generally speaking each letter sits between it's own two pages, there are some clever variations that keep kids guessing. "C" becomes "D" , for example, when the C flops over and a previously hidden vertical bar becomes the upright part of the "D". Similarly, pulling the page taunt, turns E into an F. And O and P have a special transparency page with two slanty-bars that remake them into Q and R. But if you have time, look at the video below and see for yourself.




Considerations :::
ABC3D would make a fine gift for a child as it's an entertaining book that also educates. I know the children I've been around are fascinated by books with moving parts, and this should keep them focused on their letters.

As with all pop-up books, I would suggest that young children use them with adult supervision. Toddlers, Preschoolers and even some Kindergarteners can be especially tough on pop-ups.