Alphabet Street

Eye-grabbing design gives this house-shaped board book some irresistible shelf appeal and it’d make an impressive gift (if a little challenging to wrap!) for the same reasons.

The concertina book folds out to make a street of shops, busy with animals of all sorts going about their shopping. The shop names make up the alphabet from Alfie’s Bakery to Uptown Vacuums, Wonder X-Rays and Yackety Zack’s (a beauty parlour). Each shop also has lift-up flaps to reveal lovely interior illustrations and a single line of text emphasising the letter: ‘Y is for Yaks, who are yawning in chairs’ and ‘Z is for Zebra, who’s zooming upstairs!’

When the book is folded out, it can be flipped over for a bustling park scene, which could be used as a lovely backdrop for other play. A clever concept, beautifully executed by Nosy Crow books; a single package that is a book, a fold-out play-scene and a beautiful frieze.