The earlier you start reading, the better because that’s something which goes on to help you for the rest of your life. Instead of just preaching early reading, why not present something that helps the early readers peak even earlier? For that, there is Disney Best Friends, a First Look and Find book that is nothing short of perfect for little, busy hands.

With a padded cover featuring some of Disney’s most popular animated characters and interesting board book pages, this book is something the young ones will cherish for a long time. It not only has a repeat value — because one kid can come up with multiple ways to play with it — it also helps the parents bond with the kid with something they loved as youngsters.

There are as many as seven double pages reserved for seven Disney animated flicks, with each one taking the readers down a different adventure. Each double spread features a famous scene from a Disney movie where the readers are asked to complete an activity, such as finding some hidden objects, matching some of the characters, or even following simple directions. Every item in the search box can be treated as a different person, be it a pear, a clown or even a bug, making the challenge all the more interesting!

If Timon & Pumbaa are educating Simba from The Lion Kingto eat bugs in one of the challenges, then Nemo and his dad (Finding Nemo) are on their way to another adventure on Nemo’s first day of school. You will meet Mater and Lightning McQueen (Cars) along the way as well as encounter Dumbo and his circus friends in another adventure.

And then there is TheJungle Book’s Baloo and Mowgli with their interesting act followed by the group featuring in Monsters Inc. doing what they do best. The book’s seventh and final adventure features Bambiand his friends, whereas it ends with a note to parents, regarding how to use the book so that it stays with the kid as long as he or she wants.

The book’s eighth and final spread isn’t a scene from a film, but features major characters from the seven adventures; it is here the parents are asked to use the book innovatively so that they can make their own adventures. You can use this as a separate challenge and go beyond the rhymes, shapes and colours activity, so that it develops some early reading and recognising habits in your kids.

It doesn’t matter if the kid is a toddler or goes to preschool; each can explore the pages all on their own as well as with a push from the elders. The book instils some of the early math skills in them, making life easy for the parents who might even find the matching, comparing and recognising a healthy activity while they are on the break from parent duty!

Published in Dawn, Young World, December 2nd, 2023