Lonely Planet Kids offers a great selection of books to open young minds to languages, cultures and history. I have seen books on first words in French, Japanese and Mandarin, world atlas, even environmental issues like plastic pollution for older children.
Its latest board books series revolves around travel, rather unfortunate given that most international flights are grounded, and only until national borders are open, can we gauge how the pandemic has changed global travel.
I would be lying if I say that as I open the Airports board book by Lonely Planet Kids, to read to my son, I did not long for travel or going to the airport.
There are three board books for toddlers aged 2 —Trains, Airports and Cities— each one densely illustrated so adults and toddlers can engage in a conversation on whatever activities the drawings show.
Adults can tell kids why airports have safety and baggage control and the things people do on long-haul flights.
Post-pandemic, I believe, thermal scanners would be everywhere in airports and those with fever might not be allowed to fly. These are not reflected in the book, of course, so if things change, this little book will become a pre-pandemic relic of what travelling used to be.
ON AN ADVENTURE
Still, the adventure of travel is on every page of the book, from getting on a taxi to the airport to getting on your airport transfer to the hotel.
Unlike basic toddler books with only an object on a page, these board books are meant for communication between an adult and a child, and with attentive adults, these pages could offer a variety of imaginary adventures.
Cities, also illustrated by James Gulliver Hancock, tells about the different styles of houses, types of transport, places to visit, emergency services and everything else that exist in a city.
From skyscrapers and museums to rooftop gardens and houseboats, young readers will discover what makes cities tick round the clock with this engaging book.
OLDER KIDS
For older audience, the company also offers activity books-- How Airports Work and How Cities Work-- with sticker sheets, colouring pages and spot-the difference children can do with adults. It gives an interactive alternative to just reading books, and give parents and children useful activities to bond over.
The books are priced at about RM30 each (on kinokuniya.com.my), which is quite expensive given that toddlers and children need many books to open their minds to many ideas.
But with bright, bold and colourful illustrations and fine details that will allow adults to communicate to toddlers on many things, these are more than just simple toddler books, great for young minds to learn about the world before they go out and explore it.