
Book Source: Copy from public library
Starting with a yellow dot and some basic instructions, Hervé Tullet immediately pulls readers into his "interactive" book, giving them the illusion that they have control over what happens. Kids love to think they have power and control -- every parent knows that. Press the yellow dot, make something new happen. With every direction, every page turn, the book seems to respond to touch, clapping, shaking. It's just a book, just paper pages, no electronics, yet it engages and entertains in the same way as the most technologically advanced gadget. So simple, so delightful, so brilliant. A good read-aloud choice for both one-on-one and groups, believe me, if you want a book kids will excitedly swarm around, this one is it.
Thankfully, Press Here is a sturdily designed book, ready to withstand repeated readings. Not only does this book offer wonderful read-aloud potential, with the minimal text it's also great for beginning readers. The book's creative, innovative design is no accident. Hervé Tullet has design experience as an art director for ad agencies and a magazine illustrator. Press Here was originally published as Un Livre in France, and it seems Hervé Tullet is a very popular children's author there, earning the title of "The Prince of Preschool." I can't wait to locate copies of his books from Phaidon. (They offer translated book versions of a few more Tullet titles.) J'aime!
Want more Tullet brilliance? Hervé Tullet's website is a fantastic resource. Lots of colorful, interactive online activities. Take some time to explore around, learn a little French. My kids like scribbling in À toi de gribouiller (For You to Scribble) and coloring in The Colouring Book.

Let's grow a sunflower! Press a seed into the ground. (1)
Tilt the book to the left to water the ground. (2)
A sprout! Hooray! Blow on the page to bring in a few clouds. (3)
The sprout needs rain. Tap the pages with your fingers. (4)
Look, the flower is growing! Touch the yellow dot to make the sun shine bright. (5)
Wow! The sunflower sure is tall. Touch the middle to help it grow some petals. (6)
What a big flower. Look at all those seeds! Thanks for helping the sunflower GROW! (7)
We printed out the pages and the kids used markers to draw the pictures in their books. On the final page, we experimented with pointillism, an art technique that uses dots to make a picture. We dipped a pencil eraser in paint and used it to paint the seeds. My daughter got a little impatient and all her dots combined together! So much for pointillism. Good thing we didn't try to make the whole picture this way.







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9 comments:
I also reviewed Tullet's books this week.He is a genius! Must look up this book at the library. I would love it if you linked up to my Book Sharing Monday.
http://smilinglikesunshine1.blogspot.com/2011/09/book-sharing-mondayherve-tullet.html
I LOVE it! I need to see if that book is at our library!
This is my far one of my favorite toddler books. It's like an app, for those of us who have books instead of smart phones.
I will have to look for this!I love your activities.
Thank you for linking to Read.Explore.Learn.
I love the idea of making your own interactive book. What a great way to strengthen those higher level thinking skills!
Perfect description, Storied Cities!
This looks wonderful!
I LOVE it that you donated the money to your library so it could get a copy - what a brilliant example. I shall copy your lead :-)
Press Here was my three-year-old son's favorite library book of 2011. (We had to check it out every time he noticed it there!)
I really love your idea of making your own interactive book inspired by Press Here, and the way that your sunflower book also incorporates science/nature is fantastic. Thanks for the inspiration--I want to try something like this in French (my son is bilingual and we're constantly on the lookout for new materials in French).
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