Fuzzy Fuzzy Fuzzy!: a touch, skritch, and tickle book

by Sandra Boynton

COW Tousle her fuzzy blue hair.

Rub her fuzzy pink nose.

PUPPY

Skritch the rough brown pad of his paw.

PIGGY

Stroke her smooth pink snout.

Touch her cool green glasses.

TURKEY

Feel his bumpy red wattle.

DUCK

Tickle her soft white tummy.

and 2 BIRDIES

The blue one is crabby.

The yellow one is happy.

Open the eggs to see what these guys say....

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Childrens, Storytime, Fiction, Kids, Juvenile

14 pages, Board Book

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Sandra Keith Boynton is an American humorist, songwriter, director, music producer, children's author, and illustrator. Boynton has written and illustrated over eighty-five books for children and seven general audience books, as well as over four thousand greeting cards, and seven music albums. She has also designed calendars, wallpaper, bedding, stationery, paper goods, clothing, jewelry, and plush toys for various companies.

Reviews

[Rod Brown · Rating 1 out of 5]

At first glance this is an innocuous and even cute book that allows infants and toddlers to experience various tactile sensations while reading or playing with the book.

But the more I look at it, the more it bugs me.

On the first page, Sandra Boynton would have us believe a cow's nose is fuzzy. I grew up on a dairy farm and know for a fact that cow snouts are smooth and slimy, with any hair around them being more prickly than fuzzy. They literally stick their tongues up their nostrils all day long, slurping up the mucus constantly oozing out of them. Calling that "fuzzy" is blatant misinformation. She's lying to kids, people!

On the next page, we have a dog's paw to touch with the caption, "Rough rough rough." That's clever because it picks up on the animal sound, right? We are then shown a pig's nose on the next page with a caption of "Smoooooooth." Yes, a pig's snout is probably about as smooth as a cow's. But if we moved the "Smoooooooth" to the cow, we'd have a more accurate description of it's nose and could emphasize the "mooooooo" in the middle and suddenly have a secondary animal noises theme the whole book could have been built around. Now we're moving into the realm of actually having to think about the book being made, Boynton, instead of farming it out to an intern to slap together from random images in your sketchbook and materials in your sewing basket.

Turning to the last page, the text asks "Do you want to start over with the fuzzy fuzzy guy?" Imagine being the parent stuck in a loop where the kid lifts the flap "Yes!" over and over again. It's just setting up a fight. Or if the kid picks "No." the first time through, then the parent will probably have regrets about wasting money on a book the kid doesn't want to read again. Lose, lose scenario.

Also, by referring to the "fuzzy, fuzzy guy," Boynton draws attention to the fact that the first page actually has "fuzzy" three times when indeed, there are only two instances of fuzzy -- and one of those is on the cover. WHERE'S OUR THIRD FUZZY!

Finally, looking at the back cover, we find that some copywriter has spoiled every single page. Every. Single. One. Look at it in a bookstore and you might as well put the book back on the shelf because there are no surprises or reveals left to be had. Boo!

I'm obviously overreacting for fun, but this really isn't anywhere close to the level I expect when I open a Sandra Boynton board book.

[Leo]

Mom liked it. 13-month-old Leo did not. Mysteriously, Sandra Boynton remains a bust with him.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. The first two pages made it seem like the pattern of the boom would be repeated word 3 times, new page following the same theme.

The touch and feel variety was really great though.

[Kate M. Colby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jack borrowed this book from the Canal Winchester Library. I picked it because he loves animals and Sandra Boynton books and touch-and-feel books.

We read it together while cuddled on the couch, and it was a big hit. Jack was excited to touch the fuzzy blue hair, then he thought it was hilarious to touch his nose to the cow's fuzzy nose. He eagerly flipped through the book to explore all the textures. At the end, he thought the chicks in the eggs were super funny and kept lifting the flaps to peek at them.

[Kelly {SpaceOnTheBookcase] · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fuzzy Fuzzy Fuzzy! is a textile book for babies and young toddlers as they feel their way through fuzzy, smooth, rough and soft. I liked the question on the last page which asks the child if they'd like to read it again with an interactive way to answer yes or no. There are bright colors, easy to follow words, and plenty to touch. Great book for little ones!

Thank you Simon Kids for the gifted copy to review.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

An oldie but a goodie, Sandra Boynton's Fuzzy Fuzzy Fuzzy never goes out of style. This is the perfect tactile board book for babies age 6 months to 3 years. Learn what the words fuzzy, rough, smooth, bumpy and soft mean in this wonderfully interactive book.

[Chance Adam]

Really good book for children who don't know how to read because there are things to touch on every page. In the classroom, have students create their own touch, skritch, and tickle book about something they are interested in.

[Molly Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

My toddler loves this book. She enjoys the different textures and having momma read it to her. This is a great book for the little ones.

[Danielle Robertson Robertson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a tactile book. My young son is very easily distracted but he actually paid attention to this book since there were things to feel. I LOVED the dog's paw, ROUGH ROUGH. Hahaha!

[Victoria Hanley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great touch and feel for babies.

[Ariel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sandra Boynton turns her considerable talents to a "touch and feel" barnyard, with predictably delightful results.

[Lil Old Bookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of things to touch and feel, lots of different textures, and that classic Boynton drawing style. What's not to love? Good for a variety of ages: my toddler loved it as much as my baby did.

[Junior Bodden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fuzzy Fuzzy Fuzzy! It’s a really good book. It’s about touching rough, smooth. They can touch the animals on every page. In the classroom, I can have the students create their own touch!

[Chrissy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Storytime: Baby and Me

[Lynnette · Rating 4 out of 5]

another great Sandra Boynton book. our baby really enjoys this one, but even our toddler will pick it sometimes. I think it would be especially perfect for a one year old.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

https://annaegordon.wixsite.com/whats...

[Amberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was expecting a traditionally sized board book when I ordered this. It is quite large - maybe 8" by 8". The pages are very simple. There is no story. Each page has one area that has a cool texture. One of my favorite texture books for my baby. He loves it. The last page has two eggs that are cracked - they are really flaps that lift at the crack. He especially loves this page. I laugh every time we get to the dog page because the texture is 'rough, rough, rough' and he has sand paper in his paw that he is lifting up toward the reader. Fun book for little ones.

[Samantha Penrose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its fun to touch and feel!
This book helps a parent out by supplying the correct words to describe the various textures that you will experience. (Fuzzy, rough, smooth, bumpy, and incredibly soft.)
The last page was always annoying to me...it has 2 flaps to lift instead of something to touch and feel...it just doesnt seem to fit in with the book...read it and you will see why.--still a great touch and feel choice!

[Connie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good first touchy-feely book.

It's a little large, so it's great for lapsitters; there isn't too much in the way of vocabulary to muck things up; and the textures are varied.

But it's the sort of book that babies and toddlers will tire of quickly, and yes, the two flaps on the back *will* get torn off, so it has to be a supervised book.

For more long-term use, I'd suggest the "That's Not My..." series.

[jacky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple touch-and-feel book featuring Boynton's animal characters. Natalie made me read it at least three times in a row, and William was the same when he saw it. Natalie liked the soft patch the best, and the eggs at the end, though she did touch everything every time. William started to say the names of the textures, especially bumpy. Nice variety in textures; bugs me when a touch-and-feel book has only a couple similar textures.

[Robert Beveridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sandra Boynton, Fuzzy Fuzzy Fuzzy!: A Touch, Skritch, and Tickle Book (Simon and Schuster, 2003)

Boynton, the baby's current favorite author, was obviously constrained by the abbreviated length allowed in tactile board books, and this one's pretty lightweight for her. But you can never go wrong with Boynton drawings, and she manages to work in the magic on the final page, with two chicks in fold-up eggs. Worth it, but don't move it up past Boynton's other board books on the priority list. ***

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

My little guys love this book. To be honest so do my big guys. It's really a touch-and-feel book so if your kid doesn't like to feel different textures they won't like this book. I'm sure that the library versions can get pretty nappy.

Boynton's drawings are fun as usual and the text is very minimal.

A big thumbs up from my crew.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just read this lovely large book and Ben figured out that the nose of the cow has different - but none of the other noses where different (instead it is the pig's sunglasses or the rooster's waddle etc)- so he kept going for the nose. It will be interesting to see when he figures out the other parts.

[Wench · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I really love about this one is that it *describes* the textures. Because one, I can't always describe the textures in a touch-and-feel book, and two, that's that many new words for the baby to see. Plus there's a couple of unique textures - rough and bumpy. I had to read this to my nine-month-old for about ten minutes straight, so I'd say it's a BIG hit.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite Boynton books. I love the textures for little hands, and even the tiniest of babies enjoys the repetitive and quick reading on each page. And, you gotta love the "yes" and "no" chicks at the end.

[Janelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun exploration of textures for the wee ones. Fuzzy Fuzzy Fuzzy! has pages with things that are fuzzy (obviously), scratchy, smooth, soft, and bumpy. My little man almost loves feeling all the different textures!

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice big, very Boynton-y touch n' feel. A little short, but the most well-written touch and feel I have ever experienced. Bonus points for teaching my 1-year-old the phrase "Oh, my!". Highly recommended for ages 0.5-2.

[Cara Byrne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A larger board book that allows baby to feel different animal's textured wattle or snouts or belly. Sweet, brief, but not compelling to my eight month old who did not want to pet or touch. Perhaps try again when she is older? A library baby story time book.

[Sharon Allen · Rating 3 out of 5]

My 1 year-old son could read this one all day long. He loves the page with the dog, and the page with the eggs. Although the joy of reading this book has held up for him over weeks, I am so sick of it! He'd rate it a 5, I say 1- compromise of 3.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute and fun for the little ones. My favorite is the pig.