Press Here

As the title suggests, Press Here is an invitation to children to be active participants in a whimsical journey. While Hervé Tullet’s clever book is written with young readers in mind, I found myself smiling and following along with its instructions, standing in the middle of the book store, happily tapping, shaking and rubbing various dots as instructed. Its simple dot images are brought to life with Tullet’s rich, playful language. As the book progresses, the reader is encouraged to perform different tasks (“… tilt page to the left … just to see what happens” “… try pressing down really hard on ALL the yellow dots”) and as the endeavors and language become more sophisticated, readers are rewarded with surprising results to their actions as well as words of encouragement: “Good,” “Perfect,” “Well done.” Press Here is not for lulling to sleep or calming down; rather, it’s a book of motion and imagination not intended for the passive reader. It will definitely become a favorite, making it to the treasured stack that your child (and you) will want to read again and again.