ISBN 1412702038 - This pocket-sized board book, geared toward teaching your child his/her early vocabulary, surprised me. With so many "first word" books out there, the idea has begun to seem over-done and I wasn't expecting much from this one. It's much better than I expected.

Each pair of facing pages has two images and their names - "apple" and "truck", for example. The second page of each pair has a lift-able flap and under the flap, the two words and images are combined - "The truck carries the apple." Some combinations are quite funny and catch you a little by surprise - "The beans are in the sock." comes to mind.

Any series called "Active Minds" really ought to be a good thing, and this one is. The sturdy board book pages are great, the size of the book makes it perfect for travel and the flaps are a nice novelty that lifts First Words just a little above the rest. The flaps are, as always, a little flimsier than the pages, but don't appear to be easily torn. The photographs, from George Siede and Donna Preis, are nice and bright; the only complaint is that the egg is on a white background and blends in a little bit. What a nice, fun way to expand your kid's vocabulary.

- AnnaLovesBooks ( )