Cute Board Books by Xavier Deneux

It's always interesting to see what children's books are chosen for limited shelf space at the bookstore at my local commuter rail station. What are people looking for to keep the kids occupied while on the road? I see a LOT of activity books for the older kids, and of course there are lots of board books for the youngest ones.



Today, I happened upon a couple of board books that captured my attention. I love the stark graphic look of black & white (with minimal color) books, but not having children of my own, I often wonder how captivating a B & W book can really be. They must have commercial appeal and they must sell, or else they wouldn't get made,and they have been trendy for awhile now. But I do find myself wondering if they will stand the test of time as well as their full-color counterparts.(Question for another blog post!) Anyway, I don't know the answer to that one (or if there is an answer at all), but when I saw this pair of board books by Xavier Deneux and published by Walker & Company, they grabbed my full attention.



These books feature very cute, minimalistic art which I found charming. But what first really stopped me in my tracks was the product design aspect. Both books feature incredibly thick board, and covers with special treatments.






The Circus book cover has some cool thick board collage going on. The Animal book also features relief on the cover, as well as a strong, stiff foam with a lightly sparkled sheen.





The inside pages of both books make good use of simple but effective die cuts which would be fun for little fingers to play with.


I thought these books really stood out in the sea of Board Book land. Do you like them, too?