Workman Indestructibles Humpty Dumpty

I purchased this for my grandson. The idea of these books (15 other titles) being rip proof and chew proof as well as completely washable rocks! So I bought everyone of them. The illustrations are amazing...so colourful and I am just ...enthralled...(Really...the whole idea of these books) makes me smile! (Preschool Teacher for 38+ Years) so to know that they can be truly enjoyed by my grandson...and then passed on! That is so awesome!

Good idea you really cannot rip these books

Review summary: Pros: Easily washable (dishwasher or laundry), truly indestructible, easily portable, fun images, baby loves them, at least conveys a story (unlike most of the other Indestructible titles) Cons: Story is very, very short and words (just the nursery rhyme) appear on back cover rather than on each page My son loves his Indestructibles books! He has 7 or 8 of them now. He is just over 1 year old now and I got him his first ones used at a yard sale when he was 5 months old. They really are indestructible: they withstand so much abuse (teething, crushing, tug of war, and more) and then I pop them in the dishwasher to clean them up (you can also put them in the washing machine). The bright colors and fun images never seem to fade regardless of how used they are. I actually prefer it when they are broken in - much softer. You can even iron them (with a sheet or some other colorfast fabric that can take the heat between the book and the iron) to make them flat again. I love that they are so thin that you can take them anywhere. I can easily slip one into my tiny purse to take on the go. When we took a vacation recently, we brought a couple of these books to "read" as bedtime stories instead of his board books so we could pack light (we made up stories for each of them because they don't actually have words or much of a story… Read on for more on that). These books are worth every penny! My only complaint is that none of the books are ones you sit down and read together. I hate that! I want to read him a story. Yes, I understand that these have a key role to play in literacy because it encourages free exploration and communication about the images and blah, blah, blah. Still, I want to book where I have the option to read the story. The nursery rhyme versions like this one I'm reviewing now are a step up from the others that we have because at least it tells a story that follows the nursery rhyme. However, each page only has a few words that you speak and the words appear on the back of the book, not on the page you were reading. If I could leave a 4.5 star rating on this, I would because you don't really read them. In the pictures you see several of the ones that we have. Mary Had A Little Lamb was the only one bought new and it hasn't been broken in yet. The rest were bought used, including a couple (Baby Faces and Flutter Fly) that survived 2 kids before coming to us -- and we've abused them for 8 months so far! The far left one was found stuffed in with the toys and needs to be ironed. Was this review helpful for you? If so, please click the "Yes" button below. If not, feel free to let me know why and I'll do my best to improve it. :)

Good for kids. No words in the book. Indestructible book compared to other books. Beautiful Chinese style outfits on the characters.

Humpty Dumpty takes place in China on the Great Wall. The drawings are pretty cool and the colors are gorgeous. If you want, you can make up a rhyme to tell your baby while you read to him or her, or you can tell the original Humpty Dumpty rhyme, whatever, the point is to give your child something to hold in their hand and look at that they can also drool all over and crumble and bang around and throw on the floor and practice turning the pages. I don't do much beyond pointing to something on the page and saying, "That's a man on a horse!" or something similar. My baby doesn't constantly want to hear a 20 page story, he just wants to hear my voice while he joyfully attempts to rip up the book. I own five books from the series and will cut and paste a similar review for all five of them on Amazon. I started out with two books and immediately bought three more and my 5.5 month old baby has been using and enjoying these books since about 4 months old. I'm a new mom and a librarian, formerly a Children's Librarian although now I work with adults. In any case, I'm aware of the importance of introducing the concept of books early on to get little ones prepared for reading one day and to teach them that books are enjoyable. For babies, that means getting them used to feeling a book (sometimes tasting, it can be hard to get them not to do that and it's how they explore), holding it and encouraging them to look at the pictures. I completely understand the criticisms that some of the users have for the fact that these books are wordless, thus preventing the chance to make word associations and the like. But these books are just plain fun and beautiful to look at and true to their claim, absolutely indestructible, which is all I can ask for in a book for my infant. My baby regularly chews on this book and the others we own, and I have put it in the dishwasher a couple times and it's good as new. I have not tried the washing machine yet. These books are also great for sticking in the diaper bag, as they are thin as a piece of paper practically. In fact, that's my only complaint- it's too easy to lose these books if you aren't careful because they are so slim. I can see myself scooping up a bunch of stuff to throw away and having one of these books at the bottom of a pile of old papers. Also, presentation-wise, they don't look like much but I think any of the books in the series would be a great gift to a new parent because the content is so unique and I think any baby would have fun with them.