I love a good mash-up of content and/or formats. Whether it is putting Old MacDonald and construction vehicles together (Old MacDonald Had a Truck) or marrying llamas with dominoes (Llamanoes), combining two (or three!) ideas can make for great fun in children’s books. On a recent trip to the local bookstore, I discovered some fun novelty books where formats collide producing even more mashed-up board book fun for little readers.

You Are My Sunshine
This is the perfect mash-up of the bestselling finger puppet format and a lovey-dovey, heart-shaped board book. It also includes a favorite childhood song that parents and caregivers will love to sing making for the perfect lap read.

Alphababies

I am a huge fan of tabbed board books and this blend of rounded tabs and lift-the-flaps make for a double whammy of novelty excitement. The rounded tabs and the oversized lift-the-flaps that are nicely recessed into the page are a great example of a soft innovation.

Rainbow Garden
Books that are shaped to look like other things are always crowd pleasers when face-out on a bookshelf or displayed in a baby’s nursery. This watering can-shaped board book is perfect for springtime reading. Plus it is a book with a handle (kids love carrying books with handles) AND it has movable parts (tabs, slides, and flaps) that work on both sides of the page. The cover also has a sprinkle of foil for a little extra pizzazz.

This Little Piggy

The last mash-up is one of my favorite formats: touch-n-trace. Little ones can practice their dexterity by poking fingers through holes (almost like little tabs) on the page and tracing the different shapes on each spread while chanting their favorite nursery rhymes.

Not all mash-ups are a success, but when looking to softly innovate the novelty book space, mash-ups of nontraditional books and formats can be a fun way to marry multiple, commercial subjects, ideas, or themes together, creating a new reading experience for babies, toddlers, and children.