Pat the Bunny: The Classic Book for Babies and Toddlers

Even though Pat the Bunny is such an old classic (published in 1940, and the first touch and feel book ever) I had never heard of it till my son was born 3 years ago. Many librarians and book experts recommended it for babies and young children. Thought about getting it when he was a small infant, almost did when my husband and I were in a bookstore and saw it there. But hubby convinced me it looked too cheap and flimsy, even I thought it looked pretty bland, by only by looking at the cover. Thought I would just see if it was at my local library instead of buying it.Then just forgot about it altogether. When my daughter was born I tried to look for it in the library, they did not have a copy there. So I said, what the heck, maybe I will just order it from Amazon. Saw some really excellent reviews here, but also some saying the product was flimsy, not worth it, etc. I also wondered if it may even be too babyish for my now 3 year old son and even my daughter who is over 1 year old, since some reviewers were saying they got it for their infants. Finally did order it and I must say I am really glad I did. I read on a children's book site that every toddler should "pat the bunny" and it is true!It is a very interactive experience, The children can pat the soft fur of the bunny(which is artificial by the way, animal lovers), play play "peek-a-boo" by lifting a "blanket"(a piece of fabric) to see one of the characters faces underneath (My kids LOVED this!), smell flowers that really smell like baby powder, feel a scratchy beard of the father character (sandpaper), read a little book within the book and finally put their little finger through "Mommmy's ring" in the book. Both my son and my daughter loved the book, my son could not stop smiling throughout and my daughter seemed fascinated by every page too. I do recommend getting this book for your new baby or as a gift to new parents, but having said that, I don't think even a 3 or 4 year old is too mature for this book. Even though my son loves it when I read more wordy Dr. Seuss books or even a lengthy storybook like the story of Babar the elephant, he still liked this little book very much as mentioned. As far as the illustrations go, yes as some people have mentioned they could be seen as unimpressive, or not very colourful, but this is a simple little book, where the focus is not really on a great visual experience, but more of an interactive one, and there is something soft and comforting about the pictures anyway. A warning, I do agree with some of the reviewers, the book is a little flimsy, it is a plastic spiral book format,maybe that is the way it has always been, but it is not the best style, this is one thing I would like to change, however, just keep it high up somewhere, don't let the little ones have access to it, till you want to read to them. It is also a bit small ( about 4" by 3" rectangle) but I did not mind that and neither did the kids, it is cute size, I don't know if there is a bigger size available elsewhere, but this one from Amazon is small. Overall very happy,sounds cliche, but "never judge a book by its cover!" Also, I must say Amazon's service was great,they delivered promptly. Thank you very much!

This book is one of my children’s favorite books from childhood. A true classic that every child needs to be able to be enjoyed. I recently bought this book for a friend’s baby shower. Highly recommended book.

I was elementary school. I recommend this to start kids to love books.

This was a favorite of mine when I was young, so I figured I would get it for a friend's baby shower. Packaged very well and perfect condition upon arrival. I ended up buying another one for another shower too!! Such a cute book and awesome for sensory.

A classic

She absolutely loves this book! This is our second purchase of it because we bought one to give to the parents too.

This was ordered for my grandchild. It is one of my favorite books.My children had it and wore the cover off it

There are so many wonderful interactive, texturized books today that appeal to a small child who's just beginning explore their five senses, it's so easy to forget that they were a rare novelty back in the late 30's when Dorothy Kunhardt wrote this book for the youngest of her four children, a then 3 year old daughter named Edith (originally published in 1940), who would grow up and become a children's book author/illustrator herself (including expanding on her mother's gift to her with 1984's Pat the Cat, 1991's Pat the Puppy, and 1997's Pat the Pony.) I bought this as an Easter gift for our first granddaughter... she'll only be 6 months old at Easter, it'll be a bit before she's old enough to have it read to her (though they develop much more quickly than we think), so I must be honest in that I bought it as much for my own sense of nostalgia as for her! I'd completely forgotten all about this book until I came across it on the Amazon book editors list of "100 Children's Books to Read in a Lifetime", but it instantly stirred a long ago memory, as did the VERY old-fashioned looking illustrations and VERY simple text in this book with main characters Paul and Judy (reminded me a bit of the old "Dick and Jane" readers of my gradeschool days, which used sight words and repetition rather than an emphasis on phonics to teach us how to read.) The only sense not covered in the Deluxe (referred to as Hardback on this listing) edition of the book is taste, since there are flowers to smell along with "Mummy's button box" to hear rattling upon shaking, and the squeak of "dolly's ball" when pressed (with the last two - covering 4 pages - restored from the original 1940 version - referred to as Spiral Bound on this listing - pages which are NOT included in what's being referred to as the Plastic Comb edition on this listing... even though the Deluxe Hardback ALSO has plastic comb binding! There's a difference in the size... the Deluxe Hardback is bigger, though not "double the size" as stated.) Other activities are (of course!) a furry bunny to pat, a piece of cloth covering Paul's face to lift up and play "peek-a-boo", a mirror to look in, "Daddy's scratchy face" to touch (which is actually just a final unshaven strip on one of his jaws), a hole cut out in the middle of "Mummy's ring" to stick a finger through, along with a short little book-within-the-book for Judy (and your youngster) to read. It did provide a nostalgic smile as I turned the pages... However, that's when I remembered why I've never been a fan of books with combs in the binding! Oh my goodness... not once, but twice as I myself VERY gently turned the pages of the book while reading and then re-reading it a second time, the entire comb attachment came apart from the book... can't begin to imagine how quickly and often that would happen when a young child's eager little fingers were turning the pages! Our little lady has three older brothers, and this book will never survive until her 1st birthday if they get hold of it first, so I'll be sure to suggest it be put up and out of sight until she's ready for it. The measurements shown on this listing (8.1 x 1.5 x 9.2) for the Deluxe Hardback (with its imprinted $14.99 US price on the back of the partial box it comes in, with a hard plastic overwrap enclosing it) are of the box, while the book itself is 7-7/8" x 1-1/4" x 9", which is larger (but not double the size) of what's called Plastic Comb edition (shown as 5.1 x 1.1 x 5.6). So what's the bottom line, in my opinion? A true classic. But if I'd known that this Deluxe Hardback edition also had comb binding, I'd have done a thorough search for one of the original spiral bound books and tried to buy one in very good/excellent condition from a reputable vendor. So I'm in a quandry as to how to rate it... 5 stars (love it) for its historical significance, 5 stars for the fact that it includes the additional four pages from the original, but 1 star (hate it) for the comb binding.

My daughter loves it

un classico

Baby loves touching the book

楽しい仕掛け絵本です。のぞき込んだり、手を触れて感触をたしかめたり、自分で動かしたり、においをかいだり・・・と、子供たちの五感を刺激してくれるので、たいへん小さなお子さんでも引き込まれずにはいられない絵本です。お座りができるぐらいのお子さんなら一緒に楽しんであげましょう。自分で読めるお子さんなら一人でも十分に楽しめるでしょう。子供たちの五感を刺激しながら、簡単な表現が身に付くようになっています。英語に親しむ最初の絵本としてたいへんおすすめです。

Das ist das allererste "Anfass"-Buch, das jemals geschrieben wurde. Ich habe davon in einer Doku gehört. Die Autorin hat mit diesem Buch die Verluste ihrer Familie während der Wirtschaftskrise ausgleichen können. Ich freue mich riesig, dass es noch verlegt wird! Die kleinen Geschichten sind wirklich schön und aus dem Leben gegriffen und das Buch ist liebevoll gestaltet. Absolute Empfehlung!