Spot

Kids all seem to love Spot!  My kids certainly do.  I think lift the flap books have a universal appeal, and Spot is a fun, cheeky character.  The text is usually simple, which is appropriate for the board book audience.  Also, children at this early stage are learning object permanence, so exploring lift-the-flap books with objects that are hidden but are still there even when the child can't see them is appropriate for their stage of cognitive development.

This audio of Eric Hill talking about Spot is quite interesting.  (My Young Lad thinks he looks like Grandpa ^_^)

I had a quick read of the Wiki article about Spot and I was very surprised that it claims that there is a book called Spot Saves China!  Apparently Spot stands up to an oncoming tank!  I have to say, I'm wondering if this is one of those times when Wikipedia is wrong.  It hardly sounds like the usual subject matter for a Spot book, would toddlers even understand what's going on?? It certainly is quite a departure from the life of a young child at home that Eric Hill talks about as the idea behind his stories.  If anyone has heard of this book, or even seen a copy, I'd love to know!!

There is also a Spot website with lots of fun activities.  My Young Lad, who is 2 years old, just loves this website.  I think it is well done, and the games are at an appropriate level for children who likely to read and enjoy Spot books.  It can be really frustrating to find that the games on a website or computer game are just far beyond the abilities of the age group it is intended for, and I have found this all too frequently.  Fun With Spot, as the site is called, has a fun interactive intro, which involves typing in the child's name, and then there is a little mini game where children can click to see who is hiding behind the door, in the clock, and under the stairs, just as in the book Where's Spot?  When Spot is found, the text includes your child's name saying "Well done .... ! You've found Spot."  I think this is a nice touch, it helps children to recognise the shape of their name and makes the site more personal.  My son has just learnt to control the mouse, and now enjoys finding Spot by himself in the intro.  He is also able to successfully use the colouring puzzles, so I think the difficulty level of the games is spot on (no pun intended ^_^)

There are certainly more Spot books than I have read, but I have noticed that in the first book (Where's Spot?), there are un-named animals hiding in Spots house who later become characters, and in later books they are drawn rather differently, to make them look younger and less intimidating I suppose.  Also, the level of anthropomorphism seems to change.  In the first books Spot and his family are more dog-like than in later books.  They eat from dog bowls and sleep in baskets, although they live in a house that does not appear to have any humans living in it.  In later books, they eat at the table and sleep in beds.  I found that a little odd.  But even so, Spot is a definite favourite of mine, and a great book to share with little bookworms.