Eye Spy

An exceptionally beautiful book, filled with Ruth Brown’s stunning nature paintings, Eye Spy is an original take on the alphabet or learning letters type of book combined with the well-known I Spy game. Each page begins I spy with my little eye, something beginning with, and then gives the child a clue, including a rhymes-with word to help them find the animal in the facing picture.

Not all letters are included in the “something beginning with” format, so this isn’t an alphabet book, but there is a nice variety of familiar animals and letters to practice – S for snake, T for toad, et cetera.

The featured animals in the pictures do take a bit of looking for, so children will probably need adult help to find them. However, as the book progresses and the nature scenes get darker in hue, the final page bids the reader goodnight, which makes this an ideal book to read at bedtime. The act of quietly looking for the animals in the pictures together is therefore quite a helpful, calm activity before sleep.