SEE-SAW

An approachable instruction manual introducing a collection of nursery songs.

Been a while since you sang some classic nursery songs with a little one? Those tricky words and actions not quite coming back to you? This board book has you covered! Designed with the lyrics to different songs clearly printed on each page, the book offers smaller, italicized directions that describe any actions that go along with the ditty—so no one will miss the ever popular nose-beep during “The Wheels on the Bus.” There’s no accompanying musical notations, so if readers aren’t already familiar with the melody, they won’t find any help here, but it will cue those who already know the tune. Some, like “London Bridge,” described only as a “bouncing rhyme,” are a little light on details. The nursery songs are primarily British in origin, with no forays into the repertoires of other cultures, but the sunny vignettes of children that decorate the pages depict a sweetly diverse bunch. Beaming, delicately lined, racially diverse cherubs wear “Five Little Speckled Frogs” frog costumes; two necklace- and tutu-adorned, gender-ambiguous tots rock out to “Here We Go Looby Loo”; the title song is illustrated with two children playing on an adaptive seesaw, extending diversity to disability. A well-made, reinforced cardboard cover with rounded edges will extend the book’s life. The simultaneously publishing Five Little Ducks and Pat-a-Cake are just as successful.

Useful and adorable—a delightful mix.