Didi and Meimei turn ONE today, and I must say that it’s been quite a challenge getting them to sit and read with me. It was much easier when they were babies and I could read to them when they were doing tummy time, but these days, they take turns to either snatch the book out of my hands, or forcefully shut the book. If I don’t allow Meimei to flip the pages, she protests by yelling loudly at me.
When Meiru of Flip for Joy came over to bless our kids with some books, I told her honestly that I wasn’t sure if the twins would be interested in the books she picked out for them. I should have trusted that she would have selected age-appropriate and engaging books for them, since she has had years of experience doing so!
‘宝宝的第一本拼图书’ is a jigsaw book made out of child-friendly EVA foam material, and specially designed for babies under 2 years of age. The large animal pieces make it easy for little hands to grasp, and the simple puzzles are good for developing both hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills. The animal pieces can also be used as stencils for older children to trace, and the shapes can be coloured in after that.
Didi and Meimei are pretty good at removing the puzzle pieces, and I’d like to think that they are learning to put them back, but who am I kidding? All they want to do is pull the pieces out, then fight over who gets to chew on them. Doesn’t matter that they each have a copy of the EXACT SAME book (because Meiru said she didn’t want them to fight). Somehow, the book looks more appealing if someone else is holding it, so I’ve had to break up many fights already.
Didi and Meimei with their first puzzle books
Is the duck very tasty, Meimei?
Seconds before they started fighting over each other’s books
I like that the book introduces the names of each animal in both English and Chinese, and that there are some simple sentences in Chinese hidden under each puzzle piece. At the moment, Didi and Meimei are able to focus when I read the Chinese and English names of the animals, but go a bit bonkers once I remove the puzzle piece to read what’s underneath, because they both want to hold the puzzle piece. They aren’t that keen on listening to me read about the animals, so sometimes, I try to preserve my sanity by not removing the puzzle pieces, and focus only on teaching them the names of the animals in English and Chinese.
宝宝的第一本拼图书
I’m glad that these puzzle books are made out of sturdy material, because the pieces are still in relatively good shape, even after they’ve been chewed on so much by Meimei. The twins have damaged a couple of N’s old books so far, so for these books to still be okay after being handled so roughly by them, they must be quite hardy! Hopefully, the twins will outgrow this phase of putting everything into their mouths soon, and learn to appreciate these puzzle books for their content more. Having said that, I do think that these make good gifts for babies and toddlers, as you can use them in a variety of ways.
Happy reading!
Buy the Book 宝宝的第一本拼图书 on Flip for Joy
Check out the previous Friday Flips posts HERE. I’ve also created a photo album on Facebook with some other good reads, and will be updating it whenever I come across more books that we enjoy. Do pop by for a look HERE.
Disclaimer: We received two copies of ‘宝宝的第一本拼图书’ for the purpose of this review. All photos and opinions are, as always, our own.
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GIVEAWAY TIME
We have two copies of ‘宝宝的第一本拼图书‘ to be given to two lucky readers of Growing with the Tans! To participate, please complete the Rafflecopter widget below. Terms and conditions apply.
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