From: Vicky Smith <vjsmith>
Date: Wed, 9 Nov 2005 17:06:20 -0500

I've been following the discussion of books for babies with a great deal of interest, for all the reasons posters before me have mentioned. I would like to take the opportunity to lament the disappearance of some perfectly wonderful board books from current publication, a phenomenon that always causes my stomach to sink when it comes time to order more copies for either regular circulation or for my baby programs (for which I purchase multiple copies so we all can indulge in choral readings--very fun).

While it appears that Amy MacDonald and Maureen Roffey's terrific interactive series--Let's Go, Let's Play, Let's Make a Noise, Let's Pretend, Let's Try--are back in print (yay--must try to buy some), Helen Oxenbury's just-about-perfect Dressing, Working, Playing, and Eating seem to have slipped beyond the horizon again (at least in their perfectly-paced individual incarnations). Also missing are Cat's Pajamas, by Thacher Hurd (though Zoom City seems still to be in good health) and the absolutely magnificent Peek-a-Boo by Jan Ormerod, over which my mobile babies have actually come to blows, it's so well-loved.

It always makes me weep to see yet another board-bookification of a larger paper book taking up space on bookstore shelves when some of these treasures could be brought back to us.

(By the way, if I'm dead wrong about the OP status of any of these, please email me off the list and I'll go happily wild).

Thanks,

Vicky Smith Director McArthur Library 270 Main Street Biddeford, ME 04005
(207)284-4181 vjsmith at mcarthur.lib.me.us
Received on Wed 09 Nov 2005 04:06:20 PM CST