Body words and silly stories: books for playful family reading

Noses and belly buttons are fairly small subjects for an entire book, which is part of their appeal. In Sandra Boynton's hands, one becomes an affectionate fox story and the other a gathering of hippos with quite a lot of enthusiasm for the topic. There's room here for a silly expression, a pointed finger on the page or a few words read together.

A nose story with an affectionate center

Your Nose! follows a fox parent and child, with a warm celebration of a very particular nose. We'd think of it first as an affectionate story. The familiar body word gives the reading something concrete to settle on.

If that parent-and-child feeling is what draws you to Your Nose!, our affectionate-book guide compares it with puppy and friendship stories that carry a different version of that warmth.

Hippos, belly buttons and the language you read in

Belly Button Book! gives the subject to a group of hippos. Our English copy is a 24-page board book with a die-cut cover, so there's a physical detail to notice as well as the story inside.

¡El libro del ombligo! is the separately sold Spanish counterpart. If you're buying for another family, ask which language they'd like, or whether a second-language copy of a familiar story would be useful. Similar artwork can make that distinction easy to miss when you're looking at small cover images.

Let the gestures be an invitation

You might name the illustrated body part, point to a hippo or make an expression for the person beside you. Then see where their attention goes. A favorite page can be read again, even if that means you spend most of the time on the same few words.

Tickle Time! is a rhythmic cat story with a more physical theme. It can be read entirely through its words and pictures. Touching should be welcome, and stopping should be straightforward; the book isn't a reason to ask anyone to accept a tickle or act out a gesture.

For a second book, we'd look for a different sort of silliness. Our animal-sound guide has singing pigs and barking dogs, while movement storytime begins with dancing characters. The Boynton collection puts those choices side by side. Follow whichever picture or phrase makes you want to open the book.