Ten Tiny Toes by Caroline Jayne Church (review)

“Mouth, ears, eyes, nose,/ arms, belly, legs, and ten tiny toes.” That’s all the equipment the toddler with the dot eyes and strawberry-blond haystack hair needs to get this interactive show on the road. Each leaf of the board book is a two-line direction to squirm with a purpose: “Touch your mouth and open wide./ Touch your arms, wave side to side.” The tightly focused, literal drawings (along with the help of an enthusiastic adult) will get tiny listeners into the swing of things, while slightly older rugrats will pick up on the imaginative play that depicts the little tyke’s teddy bear reacting to or joining in the activity. The chantable “mouth, ears” refrain adds the final dimension to the visual/auditory/kinesthetic learning style trilogy, which is just a fancy way of stating the obvious—streamlined figures, a strong rhyme, and lots of motion are still the main ingredients for an effective first book.