MY FIRST BOXED SET

Four mini board books packaged in a box with four peek-through windows are actually just smaller reprints of individual titles in the My First series, originally published in 2015.

Shapes, counting, colors, and words are introduced with just five page turns in these 3-inch-square books. The spreads are uncluttered, most with just one image per page. In My First 123, a numeral and a corresponding number of foil dots occupy the verso, while objects to count are arranged on the recto. With just five spreads, the count ends with 5. My First Shapes follows the same format. A decorative star and heart are included instead of the more-common rectangle or oval. My First Colors includes most of the eight basic crayon colors but substitutes pink for black. The final spread repeats all eight colors. The choice of 10 words included in My First Words seems arbitrary: sun, car, ball, dog, cake, boat, cup, bird, bee, flower. Why not moon? cat? truck? All the images in these tiny volumes are reduced to their essences with bright graphics, patterns, and foil highlights.

This is fine for a baby shower but unsuitable for institutional settings, where the full-size versions would be a better value.