Books in Shaped Board Books series

Our most popular title, this version of the elemental tale of a little girl, her grandmother and a scary wolf is illustrated by Gladys Hall and dates from around 1910. It is rendered in bright primary colors, and the little girl – Rosie – is utterly adorable in her gingham dress and red cloak. The wolf is vanquished, Rosie is saved, and all ends well in this most gentle of Red Riding Hoods.

We have more than fifty versions of this wonderful poem in our library; this is one of our favorites. Margaret Evans Price has a gentle talent. The Santa Claus on the cover, and throughout, is one of the kindest Santas ever imagined. This is a Santa who is appealingly earth bound. This is a facsimile of the 1917 edition. We have die-cut it, as in the original, and the shaped / rounded top makes it especially appealing. This is an ideal first "Night Before Christmas" for a young child.

This shaped picture book uses vintage illustrations from Laughing Elephant’s treasure trove to explore Halloween from a child’s perspective. Essential Halloween activities such as selecting a costume, pumpkin carving, parties, trick-or-treating and apple bobbing are all depicted. A simple text links the images, and together they weave an evocative spell of nostalgic Halloween magic.

Lewis Carroll’s duo of novels about a girl named Alice and her surreal adventures have been popular since their publication in 1865 (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland) and 1871 (Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There). Neither book has ever been out of print. But many parents find the originals too difficult for young children, and thus the publication of many simplified and abridged versions of Alice. Our Alice in Wonderland Picture Book features illustrations of several major episodes of the story from Italian mid-century illustrator Maraja. Accompanying these vibrant images is a very simple text. It serves as a marvelous introduction to Carroll’s world of marvelous madness.

Laughing Elephant's board book version of Peter Rabbit is a playful mid-century adaptation of the classic children's tale. The popular tale of a disobedient rabbit and his misadventures in Mr. McGregor's garden is here offered in a bright and colorful adaptation. Peter and his rabbit family adventures are delightfully presented in an updated text suitable for beginning readers. Young children will enjoy having this attractively produced volume read to them or reading it for themselves. With a pleasing die-cut shape, foil embossed cover elements, cloth accented spine, and double thick pages, Peter Rabbit has all the hallmarks of a book that will become a family treasure for generations to come. This new version is based on a whimsical 1950's version, with charming full color illustrations on every page. Readers, old and young, will love the adventures that ensue after Mrs. Rabbit says, presciently, “You may go out to play but don’t go into Mr. McGregor’s garden!”

This is our sixth reproduction of a shaped children's book, and our fourth illustrated by Margaret Evans Price. Price has certainly proved popular with our customers, and for good reason. Her illustrations are pretty and fanciful. She is especially gifted at depicting children in a stylized yet not cartoonish manner. In The Betty Fairy Book (1915) a little girl ? Betty ? inadvertently angers the fairies by wearing a fairy crown that she finds and dancing ?on fairy ground?. The fairies decide to banish her to a boat, on which Betty bravely faces several hardships. Betty's courage endears her to the fairies, who relent and take Betty to fairyland where she is cared for and given gifts. Betty comes away from her adventure with fairy souvenirs and new friends. This charming tale is richly illustrated and will appeal to both children and sentimental adults.

The new Shape Books series brings the ancient world to three-dimensional life and reveals the most interesting topics from some of the world's most important empires. Each title is a self-boxed 3-D board book that replicates an iconic structure from an ancient civilization. Page-filling color illustrations and concise text take young readers back in time, where they discover how people lived and what their world looked like. Engaging, interactive and informative, Shape Books are sure to be a hit with curious readers. Readers will find the fascinating stories of the most famous Egyptian icons: hieroglyphs, pharaohs, gods, pyramids and other tombs, mummies and the Nile. Cutaway illustrations and concise text describe how archaeological discoveries were made and what they reveal about the civilization that created them.