Also by this author: Seek and Find: New Testament Bible Stories: With Over 450 Things to Find and Count!, Seek and Find: New Testament Bible Stories, Seek and Find: The First Christmas: With over 450 Things to Find and Count!, Seek and Find: the First Christmas Activity Book, Seek and Find: The First Christmas: A Lift the Flap Book
Published by Good Book Company on October 1, 2023
Genres: Children's, Christmas
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Help very young children interact with the Christmas story with this seek-and-find lift-the-flap book.
This fun and faithful lift-the-flap book will teach toddlers key truths about the first Christmas. The will love interacting with the Christmas story as they lift a flap on each page to see what happens next.
This beautifully illustrated board book makes a wonderful gift for 1-3-year-olds.
My kids love a good Lift-the-Flap book. Let me tell you three things that makes a Lift-the-Flap book good:
Number 1: The flaps reveal something interesting. Good Lift-the-Flap books use their flaps well—a change in a character’s face or actions in response to the story, a hidden thing being found, and so on. The First Christmas does this well, even going as far as to ask young readers to look for what’s not there until you open the flap. It makes the flap an interactive addition to the story.
Number 2: The story is engaging. Even though the selling point of a Lift-the-Flap book is the flap, the story that goes along with it must be integrated into how the flaps are utilized while also standing on its own. In this case, not only does The First Christmas tell the traditional Christmas story but it also utilizes a seek-and-find feature that gives kids another way of interacting with the book. If I had to quibble with the actual story, I’d point out that the interaction with the innkeeper—while traditional—is likely not accurate to the Biblical story.
Number 3: The flaps must be able to handle being moved. As a parent and booklover, there’s nothing worse than torn books. Lift the Flap books must be made with thick pages and quality materials, the flaps must be a shape that’s not easily torn, there must be a solid hinge for the flap to move on, it must be easily opened but also easily closed so as to not get bent when the page is turned. The actual production of the Lift the Flap book might actually be the most important and most complicated part of developing this type of book. The First Christmas succeeds on all fronts.
Every year, every Christian publisher fills the market with a glut of Christmas books. Most are fine. With its high-quality production and multiple methods of interaction, The First Christmas is a step above the rest. While it’s nothing special in terms of story, the way in which the story is engaged makes it stand out.