Peek-a Who?
A teacher’s look at why this book belongs in the Lap Listeners stage.
Why it fits Lap Listeners (for babies in their first year, when books are about your voice, not the plot)
Die-cut windows and a mirror finale turn peekaboo into a book. The rhyming guesses build anticipation; the reveal builds object permanence. Small enough for tiny hands to hold themselves.
What makes it special
Die-cut windows turn the page itself into the game, building anticipation mechanically rather than narratively. Laden's saturated, retro art gives each reveal a punchy graphic clarity, and the mirror finale makes the baby the final answer. It's a book that understands attention spans measured in seconds and wins anyway.
From the publisher
The reader can look through die-cut pages for a visual clue to complete a game of…
About Nina Laden
Nina Laden is an author-illustrator who studied illustration at Syracuse University and worked as a graphic designer and freelance illustrator before her first children's book, The Night I Followed the Dog, was published in 1994. She has since published more than twenty-five books, including the Peek-a board books for babies.
Both her parents, Frieda Savitz-Laden and Bob Laden, were artists, and she has been making art and telling stories since she could hold a crayon. She lives and keeps a studio on Lummi Island, Washington.
Also by this author: Peek-a Zoo! · If I Had a Little Dream · Yellow Kayak
More from “Touch, Pat, Peek”
This book is part of The Best Books for Babies: 30 Teacher Picks (Lap Listeners) in our guide The Best Children’s Books by Age — 120 books chosen by the Montessori-certified teachers at Creative Minds Montessori in Frisco, TX. Come see how we build readers →
Nobody paid for this review — not the author, not the publisher — and the store link above earns us nothing. Our only interest is the reader this book fits.