DK has released two new scratch and sniff books for the toddler set. Scratch and Sniff Party and Scratch and Sniff Shopping (0789452235) are sure to please those diaper-wearing, wobbly-walking members of your family. Both books feature bright, crisp photographs arrayed across eye-pleasing double pages. Scratch and Sniff Shopping takes the reader out to the bakery, shoe store, flower shop, produce stand, and perfume counter. In Scratch and Sniff Party, we experience olfactory explorations of food, drink, gifts, and even after-party mints! Toddlers will enjoy looking at all the pictures in these books. They can identify familiar foods, favorite toys in party bags, and the many colors of fresh produce. Of course they will love using their small fingers to scratch the pictures and feeling the excitement of pressing their noses against the fragrant pages to discover a new scent. The few words on each page encourage the child to smell the appropriate photograph, although the child in our family discovered that all of the pictures in each spread smell good, as the scent tends to rub off a bit on everything around it.
Adults will appreciate the sturdiness of a board book. Toddlers are just learning the meaning of the word gentle, and many parents learn the hard way that favorite books can get torn easily. The stiff pages of the books in this series will withstand all the love a young reader can give. In scratch and sniff books aimed at older readers, the scent area is often small. In Scratch and Sniff Shopping and Scratch and Sniff Party, the patches are large enough to accommodate young, less-coordinated hands.
DK Publishing consistently publishes books with eye-pleasing visuals and clear text. Scratch and Sniff Shopping and Scratch and Sniff Party bring these characteristics to toddlers and preschoolers. They will please many young children and maybe even their older siblings, because who can resist the urge to scratch and sniff? Sarah McMenamin Kim is a teacher and early childhood educational consultant in Philadelphia.
