10 Button Book
William Accorsi
Board book
(Workman Publishing Company, June 1, 1999)
Little kids love to count. Little kids love counting books, too. And little kids also love manipulatives- tactile objects disguised as educational tools that are pleasing to the touch and a joy to play with. Now add them together, and the result is the all-but irresistible 10 Button Book. Created by celebrated folk artist William Accorsi, 10 Button Book is the gutsiest, most interactive of counting books. Ingeniously designed, it combines a double-thick board book with ten colorful, government safety-tested plastic buttons attached by ten strong colorful ribbons, all bound into the spine. The object is simple. On spread one - One button Billy kids take one of the buttons and snap it into the die-cut holes, in this case filling out the "eyes" of a character's face. And so on, up to Ten buttons on his nose, where kids fill in the inverted pyramid of buttons over a juggler's head. The rhyming text is simple and energetic; the illustrations are dynamic collages made of cut felt. Little kids learning to count (and those who already know their one-to-tens) will be popping the buttons in and out, again and again. And undoubtedly there to help in the fun will be the kids who are their parents.
F