Review by Deborah K. Frontiera
Board books are designed for the very youngest children who sit in an adult’s lap being read to, children who may still chew on and rip pages. So, they have few pages and few words on each page. All Aboard! Great Lakes has 18 pages of “double spreads” and another page with a map and “seek and find” activity. Generally, board books are concept books for an adult to talk about the illustrations, name objects and build a child’s vocabulary, rather than a story which must be read in a certain page order.
This book covers nine sites on the five Great Lakes: two on Lake Superior, three on Lake Michigan, one on Lake Huron, two on Lake Erie and one on Lake Ontario: North Shore MN, Sault Ste. Marie MI, Mackinac Island MI, Traverse City MI, Chicago IL, Scarborough Bluffs, Toronto CA, Niagara Falls NY, and a no-particular location under water in Lake Erie. This means a huge geographical area covered by one short book. While the pictures are nice enough, and there are plenty of things to name on each page, for the youngest listeners (and finger pointers) most of it is too abstract to absorb. The youngest children will not get the idea of the region—unless they live near one of the sites or maybe visited one. The “seek and find” page would be fun for them as they look for the various images within the pages. Beyond that, they will not understand the overall concept of the entire Great Lakes. A separate book for each of the lakes might have been a better option all around.
Preschoolers and kindergartners will have a slightly better idea of the overall concept, but even for this age group, the huge area covered is over their heads. They know what a map is, but don’t really “get it,” as this retired kindergarten teacher knows. This age group would be able to relate to a map of their classroom, or perhaps the area immediately around their school or home. By the time children reach an age where they can relate to the entire geographic area, they wouldn’t be “caught dead looking at a baby book.” A librarian, teacher, or parent looking to add this to their book collection may find it cute, but they should be aware of its shortcomings.
ISBN 978-1-4236-5532-9
Gibbs Smith, Layton Utah, 2021,
ret: $9.99 children’s board book,
part of the All Aboard brand created in 2020
