Corner: Good new board books for littlest ones include 'Tubby'

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Board books are a perfect reading format for babies and toddlers.

Printed on sturdy cardboard, board books have thick pages that are easily turned by tiny fingers. In addition, the books are fairly indestructible, even by babies who teethe on them. Best of all, board books can be piled up to make a tower or other structures, giving them a secondary use as a toy.

Here's a look at some great new board books for the youngest readers:

-- If you want a board book that's sure to be a hit with your little one, look for ones written and illustrated by Leslie Patricelli. In her latest board books, "Potty" and "Tubby" (Candlewick Press, $6.99 each, publication date Sept. 14), Patricelli demonstrates once again her ability to combine a few words with simple but comic illustrations to create a book that babies and toddlers will want to read again and again (and again!).

In fact, one of the best things about Patricelli's books is that adults don't mind reading them repeatedly; with her wry sense of humor, Patricelli has the "Sesame Street" knack for entertaining both kids and adults. In "Potty," for example, Patricelli portrays both the baby's exuberance and the parents' relief at a successful trip to the toilet, while in "Tubby," Patricelli concludes the bathtub scene by writing: "Mommy dries me. Daddy dries the bathroom." Don't forget to check out previously published Patricelli board books, including "Quiet Loud," "Yummy Yucky," "Binky" and Blankie" (all Candlewick Press, $6.99 each). (Ages birth through 2.)

-- Author Jabari Asim teams up with artist LeUyen Pham to create a delightful pair of bedtime board books, "Boy of Mine" and "Girl of Mine" (Little Brown, $6.99 each). In each book, Asim sings the child's praises by using a catchy rhyme, whose liveliness is matched by Pham's cheerful illustrations. (Ages birth through 2.)

-- It's been 60 years since author/illustrator Dorothy Kunhardt's classic "touch and feel" book, "Pat the Bunny," was published. But the genre remains very popular with the youngest readers, who will enjoy a new "touch and feel" book, "Good Night, Little Bunny" (Simon & Schuster, $7.99). Written by the prolific Jane Yolen, the book offers readers a bouncy bedtime rhyme. But it's the "touch and feel" elements integrated into Sam Williams' illustrations that will really attract the interest of babies and toddlers, who will be able to feel a Velcro toothbrush, touch a shiny silver moon and rub the sheep on the cover of Little Bunny's bedtime story. (Ages 1-3.)

-- Author/illustrator Helen Oxenbury's wonderful books have celebrated the small moments of childhood for many years. Now one of Oxenbury's classics, a "Little Hen" riff titled "It's My Birthday" (Candlewick Press, $8.99), has been republished as a board book. Young readers will love Oxenbury's hypnotic, cumulative text, and will undoubtedly have it memorized after just a few readings. They'll also enjoy Oxenbury's gentle, lighthearted illustrations, done in a palette of cozy pastels. (Ages 1-3.)

-- Little ones can learn about colors in "Raindrops: A Shower of Colors" (Sterling, $8.95). Each page has a differently colored, raindrop-shaped cutout that helps show how colors are created. For example, when author Chieu Anh Urban writes of a "blue butterfly" and a "red rooster," the blue cutout of the butterfly page and the red cutout of the rooster page then mix to create the next animal, a "purple parrot." It's an ingenious concept, made even more fun with the brightly colored illustrations of Viviana Garofoli. (Ages 1-3.)

-- Albert Whitman & Company has taken four previously published books and given them an updated look to better appeal to today's young readers.

Two of the books are illustrated by Lynn Munsinger, a master of comic children's-book illustrations. In "Underwear," Munsinger's artwork underlines the zany humor inherent in author Mary Elise Monsell's story about a buffalo who doesn't like underwear. Munsinger's illustrations of a wild-haired green monster also add to the hilarity of author Virginia Mueller's book, "Monster Goes to School."

In "You Go Away," author Dorothy Corey and illustrator Lisa Fox offer reassurance for children dealing with separation anxiety, while in "You Push, I Ride," author Abby Levine uses a rhyming text to take young readers through a typical day. The watercolor illustrations by Margot Apple add to the fun. (All books, $7.99 each, ages 1-3.)

-- And don't forget new board-book editions of some classic children's books. There's the marvelous "Ten Black Dots" (Greenwillow, $7.99, ages 1-3) by author/illustrator Donald Crews; and the hilarious "Sheep" books written by Nancy Shaw and illustrated by Margot Apple: "Sheep In a Jeep"; "Sheep Trick Or Treat"; "Sheep Out to Eat"; "Sheep In a Shop"; and "Sheep On a Ship." (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $6.99 each, ages 1-3.)

(Karen MacPherson, the children's/teen librarian at the Takoma Park, Md., Library, can be reached at Karen.Macpherson(at)gmail.com.)

CHILDREN'S CORNER