The most fascinating part of an animal, in the minds of many young children, is the tail. Not only do kids lack such appendages, they've been told that, as tempting as they are to yank on, tails are not to be touched. Fortunately, this charming, texture-rich board book (with patches of real fake fur!) is the next best thing. A vast menagerie of cartoonish critters play and scamper around the pages of Matthew Van Fleet's Tails sporting tails of all types: bumpy alligator tails, fuzzy tiger tails, and even slightly stinky scratch-and-sniff skunk tails. Children can pull the tabs to make some of the tails wag or swish. The story line is minimal, as animals lounge about playing with one another and generally having good-natured fun. Catchy rhyming verse ("Tails fluffy, tails stringy, scaled tails strong and clingy. Tails long. Tails stumpy, pulling tails makes snoozers grumpy") keeps the action moving along and encourages young readers eager to turn the page. Shoddy construction can often spell doom for lift-the-flap and touch-and-feel children's books but Tails is every bit as well-designed as it is well-written and illustrated. (Preschool) --John Moe


Review
"A waggish survey of the animal world's very own happy endings."


Book Description
Tails are irresistible to toddlers--though most are beyond the reach of small hands. But now there's reason for tail fans everywhere to rejoice: a colorful collection of tails created just for those eager toddlers to tug, pat, and even scratch and sniff!
Matthew Van Fleet's lovable menagerie features furry tails, spiny tails, shiny tails, and tails that wag--all designed to inspire and withstand hours of interactive play. While pulling tabs and opening gatefolds, those tail tuggers can also learn to count from one to ten. Tails is so full of action and fun that even parents will revel in repeated readings.



Card catalog description
Rhyming text, textured illustrations, lift-up flaps, and scratch-and-sniff spots teach about animal names, shapes, colors, and numbers, one to ten.


About the Author
MATTHEW VAN FLEET has written and illustrated many books for children, including Fuzzy Yellow Ducklings, which has sold more than a million copies. He lives in Chappaqua, New York.

FROM OUR EDITORS

From the creator of the popular Fuzzy Yellow Ducklings comes this adorable interactive book about different kinds of animal tails! With soft textures for young readers to feel, flaps to open, pull-tabs, and other tail-oriented elements, Matthew Van Fleet delivers a funny, eye-catching read featuring his comical artwork. Smily-faced tigers play with shimmery-plumed peacocks on one spread, while readers can move frisky foxes' tails with a pull of the tab. "Tails long, Tails stumpy, Pulling tails makes snoozers -- grumpy!" shows panda bears frolicking in trees with silly monkeys, and "Tails cool, Tails hot, Tails swishing -- swat, swat, swat!" has a bunch of peppy pigs swishing away flies and lazing in a pond. And with a smelly scratch and sniff skunk's tail, a dazzling fold-out spread of all the animals (plus a blue whale), and a final spread of ten animals that van Fleet challenges readers to go back and find, this interactive read is sure to get kids wagging their tongues for Tails!

ANNOTATION

Rhyming text, textured illustrations, lift-up flaps, and scratch-and-sniff spots teach about animal names, shapes, colors, and numbers, one to ten.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Tails are irresistible to toddlers--though most are beyond the reach of small hands. But now there's reason for tail fans everywhere to rejoice: a colorful collection of tails created just for those eager toddlers to tug, pat, and even scratch and sniff! Matthew Van Fleet's lovable menagerie features furry tails, spiny tails, shiny tails, and tails that wag--all designed to inspire and withstand hours of interactive play. While pulling tabs and opening gatefolds, those tail tuggers can also learn to count from one to ten. Tails is so full of action and fun that even parents will revel in repeated readings.

SYNOPSIS

From popular and bestselling author Matthew Van Fleet comes an interactive book like no other!

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Spotted through a die-cut window forming the letters of this book's title, the furry tails of a tiger and bush baby and the bumpy tails of an alligator and a pangolin number among the seven textures little fingers can touch in this lively look at animal appendages. Sturdy pages feature friendly, frisky creatures interacting-and flaps and tabs encourage youngsters to do the same. A pull of a tab makes two young foxes' tails wag; a lift of a flap reveals the shimmering, Mylar-enhanced fanned-out feathers of one deservedly proud peacock, owner of the volume's most dazzling tail. Other child-pleasing pages include a pull-tab showing two tiny alligators hatching from eggs, displaying their "tails new"; and a pair of pages that open to reveal a whale of a tail, in fact "The biggest tail of all!" The entire cast poses atop the smiling mammal with their species labeled. A final spread offers a counting game, challenging readers to search the pages for two tigers, three foxes, four pandas, etc. Youngsters will hardly realize how much they're learning in this entertaining and eye-catching caper. Ages 2-5. (Oct.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Children's Literature - Marilyn Courtot