There are some things that babies and toddlers need to learn to associate with the words ‘No No’ and others that can be associated with the words ‘Yes Yes’. In this brilliantly simple board book Leslie Patricelli shows the young reader exactly what things are ‘No No’ but even better than this all the things that are ‘Yes Yes’.

 Showing children the difference between right and wrong is challenging at any age but more so for young babies and toddlers whose understanding of these concepts is yet to be formed. By choosing to illustrate the process in this board book Patricelli has set herself a considerable challenge but she has risen to it and succeeded brilliantly.

Beginning with the picture of a baby tipping a bowl of food over their head she displays this with the words ‘No No’. The adjacent page however shows the baby eating the food from the bowl with a spoon and the words ‘Yes Yes’. This is the pattern throughout the book - using crayons on the walls is wrong, on paper is right; picking your nose is wrong, blowing it is right; eating dog food is wrong, eating your own is right; putting objects into the toilet is wrong, sitting on it is right (great for potty training); hitting a sibling is wrong, playing with toys is right and so on. The book ends with a page of five further ‘No No’ actions and five ‘Yes Yes’.

This book is wonderful for sharing with young children as they begin to become more independent and need to be taught the difference between right and wrong and the correct way to behave. Associating the actions with the words no and yes should make it easy to reinforce the message and the bright colourful book makes it great fun to read and look at time and again.

2008-02-21