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Baby Unplugged™ and Toast to Baby™ Series Reviews: Toast to Counting and Blanket

Do you ever wish you could unplug your little ones? For many of us--the state of constant connectivity takes a toll on family life! Are you looking to disconnect from electronic influences--and perhaps raise an unplugged child? Enter the Baby Unplugged™ book series for young children! I recently discovered Baby Unplugged™ and Toast to Counting™ and would love to share our reviews of two of the series’ books: Toast to Counting and Blanket.


                        

What is Baby Unplugged™ and Toast to Baby™?  Baby Unplugged™ is a series of books for young children from Blue Manatee Press. The first seven books in the Baby Unplugged™ series, including Blanket, were written by a pediatrician and author/bookseller, John Hutton. The most recent series from Blue Manatee Press, Toast to Baby™, just added Toast to Counting from artists Sandra Gross and Leah Busch. Both series focus on encouraging families to interact and explore the real world. Not a computer generated world, but one filled with real books, real pages, real life, and real human interaction.


Review of Blanket by John Hutton from the Baby Unplugged™ series . This brightly colored board book takes a look at basic blankets in a variety of real world situations and a few, fun, imaginary settings. The rhymes are straightforward and short. The messages and illustrations leave little readers time and incentive to interact with a caregiver on each sturdy page. It is a lovable book that is suitable for either a boy or a girl and can be read again and again. I think the prompts for interaction on each page will grow with the child.



Review of Toast to Counting by Sandra Gross and Leah Busch. This book was perfectly adorable! As a parent--it is sometimes easy to forget how easy it is to incorporate our humdrum, everyday world into a fun, interactive, educational lesson for our children. In this case, the artists introduce the concept of counting to five as they create a breakfast themed face on a slice of toast. I know that my girls would have created faces with their breakfast every morning had we had this book when they were younger!    


Our thoughts on the Baby Unplugged™  and Toast to Baby™ series of books: Blanket and Toast to Counting. One of the first things that my daughter said was, “Oh, I wish we had cool counting books like this when we were little!” I think she genuinely related to the illustrations and the real-world connection--and I think other children will. Baby Unplugged™  reminds us that the world around us provides many opportunities for connection as parents to our children--something we seem to forget amidst our digital distractions!

Check out the offerings at Blue Manatee Press.  As a blogger and freelance writer, I am frequently too connected during most of my day. I make it a point to enjoy a daily, traditional story time with my girls. We use real books with no distractions as we read and discuss the story. I think both series are terrific ways for parents to begin or continue such a tradition with their own children. 

Disclosure:  I was provided complimentary copies of Toast to Counting and Blanket for use in this review.  I was not required to offer a positive review--just my honest opinion--as always!


 

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3 Comments

  1. Thank you for this wonderful review - we are glad that you and your daughter enjoyed the books! Toast to You!

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  2. Thank you for this great review. We also reviewed the books and thought the books and the concept behind the books (i.e., the "unplugging") was fantastic. Thanks for linking into the Kid Lit Blog Hop! I already follow you a number of ways, but I'd love to follow you by email. Do you have that as an option? Thanks! :)

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  3. Aw man! Now we have to have toast for dinner because that sounds so fun! :) Thank you so much for joining the Kid Lit Blog Hop! I'm following you on Twitter and Facebook and added you to my G+ circles. I hope you join us again in March!

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