I have just discovered my #1 Christmas Gift Pick for Babies! Too bad I don’t know any babies to give these to!
I’ve just stumbled across these at our local library – a gorgeous little series from Simply Read Books entitled My Cozy Classics by Jack and Holman Wang, which presents famous novels in stripped down fashion with lovingly crafted felted illustrations. Here’s an example:
Les Misérables
poor
rich
sad
happy
run
climb
stroll
love
fire
stop
dark
together
That’s it! Victor Hugo’s classic in just 12 words. 
Perfection! What I love about this series, other than the fact that the felted characters are adorable, is that parents can fill in just enough of the classic story to satisfy the child – from just the one word to full detailed renditions. And you can let your child lead the way; once they are speaking they will ask for more of the story behind each picture.
And yet… as the publisher states on the cozy classics site, the point of this series is NOT to give your infant some kind of intellectual, academic head start:
“We want to be clear about one thing: Cozy Classics are not intended to provide babies with any kind of academic leg up. Our books are not meant to help you fast-track your toddler to Harvard! … If parents present one of our word primers to their children with just that little extra bit of enthusiasm because they are sharing a story or characters they love themselves, then we will have done our tiny part in helping parents model an engaged and affectionate relationship with books.”
Love it. I may just have to buy them for myself…
LINKS:
the full list of Cozy Classic titles on their website
Rarest Kind of Best 