Take a look and play 'I spy'

As you can see from the battered copy above, this book has seen a lot of love over the years.  In fact, Each Peach Pear Plum is one of the few books I still possess from my own childhood, where frequent re-bindings of packing tape have helped it survive nine children over two generations.  

Speaking of packing tape, let me take the opportunity to say that I only purchase hardcover books for children, unless there is truly no hardback version available.  I would choose a used hardcover over a new paperback any day.  Children read their favorite books dozens of times, and even the gentlest little cherubs will drop them, sit on them, drag them about, and worse.  Get library binding if you can! Each Peach Pear Plum also has a board book version, which has many of the same benefits.

But, let's return to our subject, Each Peach Pear Plum, written by Janet and Allan Ahlberg and first published in 1978, proving that something good did happen in the '70s.  It is so simple that it cannot properly be called a story.  Rather, it takes the form of a nursery rhyme.  Each couplet gets its own illustration and nursery rhyme character, with the next featured character hiding in the scene before starring on the following page.  Thus below, we see "Baby Bunting fast asleep, I spy Bo Peep."

As you can see, Bo Peep is off in the wheat field

Small children love pointing out where the characters are in the picture, and will quickly memorize the text.  It is so soothing that it makes the perfect bedtime book for a toddler, and has the added benefit of only taking a minute to read, making it the ideal choice when your little asks for "just one more story."  Beginning readers also enjoy pretending to be able to read it, when of course they just have it memorized.  

It so easy for books at this level to get tiresome for the adults who have to read them, but somehow, this one never gets old.  My sister literally squealed when she saw this on my shelf, having forgotten about it for the last twenty years.  And in writing this review I was continually interrupted by requests to read it aloud, even by children who are too old for that sort of thing.  There are no caveats on this one--just go get yourself a copy!

Ages: 1-4

Rating: A+