Giant Play and Learn Book (Activity) by Pascale Estellon Ages 4-8 124 pages Chronicle Books September 2008 Paperback     Giant Play and Learn Book is packed with educational activities, and its vibrant presentation makes it an instant winner with young readers who can work on the projects presented here in a way to make the book their very own. The book is divided into chapters based on the skills the text is designed to teach: shapes, spots, dots, lines and other doodles; everything in its place; reading and writing; drawing and coloring; and “just for fun” are the broad categories used to describe each set of tasks. The chapter on shapes provides instructions such as coloring a triangle hat atop a red figure, or coloring his square body blue. You can also use the stickers found at the back of the book to create stick figures resembling the others on the pages. In the chapter relating to everything in its place, you can arrange the furniture within a new apartment or use the stickers to place the moviegoers in line to purchase tickets. There are also a number of activities relating to letters and numbers, such as drawing pictures to match certain words. Projects relating to drawing and coloring include such things as decorating the pre-outlined faces or trying to copy the perfectly photographed pieces of fruit and animals showcased on the page. The book ends with a chapter entitled “just for fun,” which offers users the opportunity to draw the animal on the end of a young girl’s leash or to create people whose features resemble different fruits and vegetables. Giant Play and Learn Book will provide hours of educational entertainment for little ones with varying degrees of skills. The only downfall of this book is that its pages are illustrated with such vibrant colors and details that adults might cringe at the thought of letting a young child loose with crayons to vandalize such a well-illustrated book - even though, of course, this is its very purpose.     web reviews   Lori West/2009 for curled up with a good kid's book   For grown-up fiction, nonfiction and speculative fiction book reviews, visit our sister site Curled Up With a Good Book (www.curledup.com)