LET'S BE SAFE

Young anthropomorphic animals model basic safety rules with the help of interactive pull-tabs.

It isn’t easy keeping active little ones out of trouble, but this accessible board book models strategies to stay safe through short vignettes that serve as object lessons. Some—like hungry Little Monkey blowing on hot food before eating or Little Crocodile using the handrail while descending the stairway—demonstrate how toddlers can exercise agency over their own bodies. Others show that adults sometimes need to step in to help, as when Little Cat waits patiently to be removed from her highchair. The images underneath the smoothly operating pull-tabs visualize the safest course of action in each situation. Some adult readers will balk at how easily the child characters acquiesce to requests, and occasionally the book feels a little out of touch with its rather cosseting parental figures. Expressive, big-eyed cartoon animals do a thorough job of explaining and animating the scenes, and bright, saturated colors and minimal backgrounds keep the focus on the safety lessons.

This board book succinctly reinforces basic safety tenets and will appeal most to highly safety-conscious caregivers.