As an adult, I never imagined myself saying that a pop-up book is incredible. But One Red Dot just a super cool book on so many different levels.
By way of summary the book offers 10 unique pages with intricate pop-up structures. Within each unique structure is a single red dot hidden for the reader to find.
First the book is just fun. Both my 1 year old and my three year old love to play with all the different structures (examples include Five Wiggle Wobble Widgets, Eight Obedient Orbs, Nine Nimble Nines). They will sit and read this book over and over again just to play with the structures over and over.
The book also encourages problem solving and exploration. That dot can be tricky to find. Next the book helps teach number orientation and counting as each structure is oriented around a number one through ten.
Then there is the pure wow and design factor that any adult can really appreciate. As someone with an engineering back-ground that includes design work, I find it amazing that the book even opens and closes.
The book is fairly expensive to produce as reflected in the end price of $19.00. Since the book is already expensive, it would be great if they could make the structures a bit more durable. I would gladly pay and additional $2 if it stood up to a two year old better. Its worth pointing out that the book is not recommended for children under 3 so its not meant to stand up two pulling a tearing. Still my copy has lasted a year with two kids, which is not bad. But its starting to show signs of wear and tear.
This is a great book. Do consider buying it to build a children's library or s gift.