THINGS TO SEE

Colorful photos and simple captions introduce babies and toddlers to their world.

Each double-page spread presents a setting that will be recognizable to little ones, such as the park, the zoo, the beach or “...My Party.” On the left-hand page, photos appear in colored panels, and on the right, the pictures float on a white background. Tabbed pages with small images offer hints as to what each spread reveals. Most of the objects prove iconic and give parents room to talk and engage with little ones at their own pace. In the companion title, Things to Learn (2013), readers are given specific tasks. Youngsters are invited to match objects of the same colors, animals to their sounds, baby animals to their full-grown versions and more. A couple of foibles mar the presentation: The spread devoted to counting is overly busy, and one or two of the shapes are inconsistently depicted. In both books, a few of the images on the covers do not appear again on the internal pages, which may disappoint browsers.

While not flawless learning experiences, both books are useful tools to promote language development thanks to clear photos and clean layouts.