Back To Those Babies! (and Olders, Too!)

My reading responsibility as a panelist for the 2018 CYBILS Fiction Picture Books and Board Books Awards is drawing to a close. 
As I mentioned in a prior post about some of the board books I've examined and enjoyed, here, the variety of books is astonishing and the quality is both amazing and impressive. In order to share more of these remarkable titles here I'm adopting a "speed dating" approach. I've kept many titles checked out from my library with renewals and I'm due to return them soon. While they're still within reach, I'm going to settle for some quick looks and titles in hopes that you will take a closer look. Please be aware that these are as varied as they are appealing, and many (to my surprise) could play a valuable role in activities with older readers and learners in elementary (or higher) classrooms. 
Take a look here, then read on for a few quick notes.

Color/mixing and animal morphing provide fun examples of made-up words that still make sense. (ANIMAL COLORS by Christopher Silas Neal)

The diverse and exuberant photographs of early developmental landmarks will appeal to infants and toddlers, but could also be very useful in childbirth classes! (WATCH ME GROW!)

The charming interactions of a dad and toddler could work well in a youth or adult English Learner class, because it so effectively uses a common word, (up) in various ways and in various language structures and figures of speech. (CLEAN UP, UP, UP! Ellen Mayer)

Page after page of simple directions to engage little ones with tactile activities (tracings and finger-play with various grooves and dimensional dots, etc.) make this as much a toy as a book, and one that little hands will want to explore independently after a few readings. The blend of accurate and figurative language used would also be valuable in early learning classrooms. (WIGGLES by Claire Zucchelli-Romer)

Last, but certainly not least, among these delightful board books is one packed with laughs, sly expressions, and fold-out/flip/funny discoveries on every page. Anyone of any age with an interest in art should examine this one closely, with particular attention to those clever eyes and body positions. This would also be a wonderful model for young classroom learners to illustrate word pairs-opposites. (CONTRARY DOGS by elo.)

More to come soon (I promise!) but these should keep you busy at your library or local book store. If you've already had your hands on some, please add a comment about your thoughts and reactions.