BABY ANIMALS

A simple lift-the-flap teaches little ones the names of animals and their offspring.

As in companion title First Words (2014), there’s no narrative to speak of, just an easy guessing game. Each page has a big, bold image with "Who is my mommy?" written above it. Readers are encouraged to name the critters before lifting the sturdy, notched flap revealing the answer. Under the flap with a kitten on it, readers find a mother cat licking her kitten; the answer is phrased, "My mommy is a cat. I am a kitten." Other animals pictured are two foals (a horse and a zebra), a lion cub, an elephant calf, a puppy, a lamb, a panda cub, a giraffe calf and a duckling. Publishing simultaneously in the baby-animal vein are two My First Touch and Feel titles, Kittens and Puppies. Children can pat the kittens’ “fluffy fur,” feel its “soft tongue” (readers with actual cats in the house will find this and the kitten on the next page wearing a “smooth bow” inexplicable), and touch its “fuzzy ball of yarn.” The puppies’ tactile items are more in keeping with actual doggy properties.

Appealing fare for young animal lovers.