Interactive children's book facts for kids
Interactive children's books are special books that need you to do more than just read! They ask you to participate and interact with them. This could mean touching different textures, using special tools, or even playing games. Some interactive books even use modern technology or are completely digital.
A cool type of interactive book is called a movable book. These include pop-ups, books that change, tunnel books, and books with wheels (called volvelles). They also have flaps, pull-tabs, and other parts you can move. Even some 3D greeting cards use these same fun techniques!
Contents
Books with Moving Parts
Volvelles: The First Interactive Books
The very first interactive books might have been volvelles. These are movable books that have a wheel you can spin. Long ago, people used them to explore astrological charts and geographical maps.
Pop-Up Books: Stories That Jump Out!
Pop-up books became popular in the late 1800s, thanks to new printing methods. The McLoughlin Brothers published some of the first pop-up books in America, called the Showman Series. At first, these books were too expensive and easily damaged for kids.
But pop-ups opened the door for many other types of interactive books. They let children truly get involved with what they were reading. Imagine a story where the pictures literally jump off the page!
One important person in the pop-up book world was Waldo Hunt. He helped make these books popular in the United States. Pop-up books have grown from simple ideas to amazing, detailed creations. They can be found in libraries, bookstores, and many homes today.
Some famous pop-up books include Christmas in New York by Chuck Fischer and Star Wars: A Pop-Up Guide to the Galaxy by Matthew Reinhart.
Books You Can Play With
Coloring Books: Add Your Own Colors
Coloring books have been around since the early 1900s. They give you outlines of pictures, and you get to add all the colors! This lets you be creative and make the book your own.
Gamebooks: Choose Your Own Adventure
Gamebooks are like regular books, but they let you make choices as you read. Your decisions change how the story ends! At certain points, the book tells you which page or paragraph to go to next. The first gamebook came out in 1941. They were super popular in the 1980s.
Hidden Object Books: Find the Clues!
Hidden object picture books are great for all ages. They hide items in busy pictures, and your job is to find them! Sometimes you look for a character, or an item from a rhyming list. These books often have fun themes like Christmas or farm life. Kids as young as four can enjoy finding hidden objects.
Where's Wally? (or Waldo!)
The British artist Martin Handford created the famous Where's Wally? series. In North America, the character is known as Waldo. The goal is to find Wally in crowded, detailed pictures as he travels the world. Wally always wears glasses, carries a walking stick, and has a red and white striped shirt, blue pants, and a bobble hat.
The first Where's Wally? book was published in 1987. It quickly became a huge hit and was translated into many languages. Wally became a pop culture sensation in the early 1990s, especially in the United States, where it was called "Waldo-mania."
More books followed, and new characters joined the fun, like Wizard Whitebeard, Wilma, Wenda, Woof, Odlaw, and the Waldo Watchers. The franchise grew to include video games, magazines, toys, comics, and even a TV series.
I Spy: Riddles and Amazing Photos
I Spy is another popular hidden object book series. It started in 1992. Jean Marzollo writes the riddles, and Walter Wick takes the amazing photographs.
Wick's photos are full of many items, or they show a specific scene, like a toy shop. Below the picture, Marzollo's riddles ask you to find certain items in the photo. Wick's photographs are known for being very detailed and expressive.
The series began with I Spy: A Book of Picture Riddles (1992). It grew to include many more books like I Spy: Christmas (1992) and I Spy: Treasure Hunt (1999). There are also more challenging "Challenger" series.
The I Spy books have also become video games, like I Spy Spooky Mansion and I Spy Treasure Hunt.
Other Hidden Object Authors
While Martin Handford, Jean Marzollo, and Walter Wick are very famous, other authors also create hidden object books. Gillian Doherty is one such author. Her books include 1001 Monster Things to Spot and 1001 Wizard Things to Spot.
Touch and Feel Books: Explore with Your Senses
Many interactive books are made for younger children, like toddlers and preschoolers. These are called touch-and-feel books, or texturized books. They help kids learn by letting them touch different textures that match words. For example, a picture of a cat might have soft fur to touch.
These books help children develop their senses and learn new words. Some touch-and-feel books even have music or are made for bath time! Most of these books are "board books," meaning they have very thick, durable pages. This makes them strong enough for young readers.
Some top publishers of touch-and-feel books include Dorling Kindersley, Usborne, Macmillan, and Lamaze.
Examples of Touch and Feel Books
- Pat the Bunny by Dorothy Kunhardt
- Usborne's "That's Not My..." series
- Dorling Kindersley's Touch and Feel series
- The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister
Digitized Learning Books: Reading with Technology
Technology has made children's interactive books even more exciting. Early examples were "sound books," which had buttons you could press to hear sounds from the story. There were also books that came with cassette tapes or CDs, letting you listen to the story being read aloud.
Computerized Books
When computers became common, CD-ROM versions of books appeared. These programs put books on the computer screen. Kids could click on words and pictures to make the story come alive.
LeapFrog Systems
A big step in this technology was LeapFrog's LeapPad. This system made regular books interactive. You could touch a special pen to the page to hear words, have the story read, or play learning games. LeapPads were designed for different age groups, from picture books to chapter books.
Later, LeapFrog released the Tag. This was a pen that could store books downloaded from the internet. You would scan the pen across a special book to hear it read aloud and unlock activities. These products aim to help children learn to read and get more from their books.
Online E-Books
The newest step in interactive children's books is online e-books. Many websites now offer children's picture books with sound effects and word pronunciation, often for free! Some can even read the whole story aloud. These "virtual libraries" help make books available to more kids than ever before. Even old classic books are now moving online to keep up with the times.
See also
In Spanish: Libros interactivos para niños para niños
