Pediatrician publishes board books for young children to encourage active exploration

Are you searching for the perfect board book to give to an infant or toddler? Beach, by Dr. John Hutton and illustrated by Andrea Kang, might fit the bill.  Winner of a Mom's Choice Gold Medal and Creative Child Book of the Year, Beach is the latest addition to the Baby Unplugged series published by Blue Manatee Press.  The purpose of the series is to encourage hands-on early learning and play through books.  The series titles to date include Ball, Beach, Blanket, Book, Box, Pets, and Yard.

Beach features Kang’s happy, brightly colored pictures that show children and animals playing, sharing, laughing, making music, and sleeping.  The objects they play with include sand, shells, balls, animals, snorkels, buckets, water, and a wagon.  They explore the sand and water.  They examine and observe shells, lobsters, fish, dolphins, and turtles. Scenic backgrounds include the boardwalk, sand, and water at the beach, with a happy sun in the sky.  The simple, rhyming text describes the dry and wet sand, shells of many shapes and sizes, salty ocean, swaying palm trees, and hatching turtles.

Beach and the other books in the Baby Unplugged series use happy images and simple, rhyming text to encourage children to explore the real world using all of their senses.  The concept is rooted in research on how children’s brains develop.  “It’s incredible that we have to remind people to reconnect with the real world . . . real-world experiences are critical during sensitive developmental stages.” says Hutton, who is opposed to the overuse of television and technological games for children.

On Dr. Hutton’s blog, Baby Unplugged (www.babyunplugged.com), he makes the points that the best gifts are those that follow the Photo Principle – they inspire the taking of photographs – and the Memory Principle – they build memories.  The giving of books with real pages that youngsters can handle and look at, and share with their loved ones, is a great tradition for Christmas, birthdays, and other gift giving occasions.

I read this book with my six-year-old.  We live on Long Island and love to frequent the ocean beaches here.  We enjoyed the book, and we agreed it will make the perfect gift for her baby cousin, who lives in the center of the continental United States and does not get to see the beach often.

For more information or to order visit the Blue Manatee Books website at www.bluemanateebooks.com