ABC is for Circus [Board book]

'A' is for apple, 'B' is for ball, 'C' is for cat, blah, blah, blah... Most of us with children have a board book or two that sound very similar to that, right? I know I do - and I avoid reading them like the plague. This book? It's not like that. This book took some imagination. This book took more than 45 minutes looking for free-use clip art to put together. This book is original. This book... is magic.

I have a 3 year old son (he says he's not 3 - he's almost 4!) that has been a book lover since he was 6 months old and a 15 month old daughter that I can't, for the life of me, get to care at all about them. Until, that is, I got this one.

The day after 'ABC is for Circus' came in the mail, I sat down on the floor and pulled my daughter into my lap. She's a girl on the move, so she immediately tried to push me away and get back to whatever she thought was important at the time. I showed her the book - and she sat down and stared.

By the time we got to 'C is for Calliope', she was hooked. We stopped on every page for a minute or so while she touched all of the shapes and colors with her chubby little fingers. I've never seen her that quiet for that long.

Then we came to the letter 'F'. 'F is for Fireworks'. People, she jumped out of my lap and started clapping when she saw the page. Seriously - you can't make that up.

Every page seemed to be better than the last. Every page a new buffet of color. More shapes, more imagination, more excitement.

She sang 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star' when we got to 'N is for Nightime'. She roared at the Tiger. She called the weightlifter 'Daddy' (heehee). And when we were done? When we were done she picked up the book, carried it to her room, and sat on her floor to look at it again. That, for me, says it all.

If you know someone with children from birth to 5 and need a gift idea - get this book. If you are a parent that is bored to tears with the furry kitty cats and the unoriginal fluff - get this book. If you have an appreciation for kids books with modern illustrations and lots of color - get this book. I promise you'll love it.

What fabulous pictures that both make you smile and stimulate your eyes. You can stare at them for hours. I read it to my 3 year old neighbor and he was fascinated. I highly recommend this book!

My 2 year old niece and I loved this book so much, I bought a second for a friend's son. While you do still get a couple "typical" examples, most are very circusy. The other part we really enjoyed is that the colors are extremely vibrant, and yet the words are still very easy to read. This book is perfect for children who are learning their letters, and parents who want something different than the standard a is for apple. I must have read this book at least 8 times yesterday and I was still willing to read it again and look at the pictures.