Novelties galore!

Whenever our family heads to a restaurant, waiting room, or trip, I bring along a bag of diversions to ensure the happiness of my son, as well as any nearby adults. Here's a gaggle of goodies guaranteed to keep kids busy.

REVIEWS BY ALICE CARY

Games, puzzles, and trip take-a-longs

We're going to the Grand Canyon in September, and along with our hiking boots and camera, one of the first things I'll pack is The Amazing Backseat Book-a-ma-thing. Publisher Klutz says it's good for "Thousands of Miles' Worth of Hands-On Games and Activities," and I have great faith that it will easily get us from New England to Arizona.

The compact, spiral-bound book-a-ma-thing contains everything from a magic writing tablet and a sliding block puzzle to a spring-powered backseat baseball game with four small balls. Kids will want to play "Nim," described as "tic-tac-toe's older and smarter brother," or challenge a partner to a penny race (board and spinner included) or a dime race, in which one penalty requires them to snort the first verse to "Happy Birthday" like a pig.

There's a good mix of one-person and two-person games, along with activities the whole family can enjoy, like gunning down red lights -- with your fingers, of course. Klutz isn't advocating road rage, by any means. In fact, with this item in hand, family trips are much more likely to be a breeze.


Another clever time-passer is The Magic Toyshop, a What's the Difference? book by Usborne Picture Puzzles. The pages remind me of the popular I Spy books, in which photographs are jam-packed with colorful, intriguing items for observant eyes to find. In The Magic Toyshop, each spread contains two nearly identical photos, between which readers must spot ever-so-slight differences. There are also items to find on every page, including winsome green elves and jack-in-the-boxes. Each spread has a theme with plenty of kid appeal, such as puppets, a carnival, a doll house, and a train table. Mind you, these puzzles are tricky!


Kids will enjoy writing or drawing on postcards from the Sanrio Smiles Postcard Book. Sanrio is a Japanese company that has created a cast of wildly popular characters featured on all sorts of accessories, from pens and jewelry to wallets, backpacks, and now, postcards. Here are cards featuring the lovable likes of Hello Kitty, Keroppi the frog, Pekkle the duck, Spottie Doggie, and Pochacco the pooch.

Animal antics

David Carter, the creator of the Bugs in a Box books, has engineered a new "Pop-Up Menagerie" called Curious Critters with words by Alan Benjamin. His funky, fantastical critters will definitely tickle your funny bone and grab your child's attention.

Starting the show are The Acrobaterpillars, who pile into a tall pyramid, with two more performers hanging from suspension strings, while several more perform jumps and flips. The Shine-o-saur is a flying prehistoric creature with shiny wings. The grand finale is the Sopranosaurus, a dinosaur in queenly garb who sings a few bars of comic opera when you press the precious stone on her necklace. She's "bigger than the three tenors," the text slyly notes.


To Fly by Lucia Scuderi is a jewel of a book with a gently humorous story but few words, making it an excellent choice for both very young children and beginning readers. A mother crow tries to teach her newly hatched chicks to fly, prompting all sorts of endearing expressions and action. Each time a bird flies, the page folds out and up to show the avian aviator's efforts. There's also one large fold-out page showing the entire family in flight.


Detecting and exploring

Mercer Mayer is always a favorite among preschoolers, and his Little Monster Private Eye Detective Kit is a bonus, containing not only two books full of comic intrigue, but sunglasses, a magnifying glass, and a notepad. Move over Sherlock, because Little Monster Private Eye and his assistant, Detective Kerploppus, have two tough cases to crack. In The Lost Wish, young Larry has lost his lucky green coin, so the gumshoes hop into their Private Eye Mobile to retrace Larry's steps. In The Smelly Mystery, the detecting duo must stop the Evil Smell Switcher, who is wreaking havoc in Monsterville by making fish smell like candy, flowers smell like fish, and chicken smell like soap. Rest assured that Little Monster gets to the bottom of both dilemmas.

Like the Carmen Sandiego TV show and books, Explor-A-Maze, written by Robert Sneddon, skillfully combines learning, adventure, and entertainment for middle-graders. The book discusses 11 explorers ranging from Leif Eriksson and Lewis and Clark to astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, presenting for each a maze, a brief introduction, a map, and a timetable. The one-page bibliography at the end is a nice touch, encouraging readers to find out more about these famous explorers. My only criticism is that the maze solutions are included up front with each map and timetable, instead of separately at the back, making sneaking a peek a bit too tempting.


The Jack series, a set of bright, handsome board books, let the friendly dog Jack (is he a fat terrier?) teach toddlers to four-year-olds basics such as colors and shapes -- only they won't know they're learning because they'll love lifting the flaps on each of the six spreads for the surprise. The text is very short, simple, logical, and fun. In Jack, It's Bathtime, the little reader pulls down flaps to find Jack's yellow duck, his blue fish, his red sailboat, and his green towel. Then they all appear with Jack in the tub in a pop-up announcing it's "bathtime for Jack!"

Lots of good thinking went into this series. There's plenty of space for little fingers to pull down the flaps, and the similarity in format from one spread to the next doesn't require extra time to search out the manipulative element. Other titles in the four-book series cover bedtime, playtime, and the bonanza, Jack's birthday.


Alice Cary reviews books from her home in Groton, Massachusetts.

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