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That's Not My...
That's Not My Lamb...
This delightful series of board books is aimed at very young children. The bright pictures, with their patches of different textures, are designed to develop sensory and language awareness. Babies and toddlers will love turning the pages and touching the feely patches.
Board Book
Published January 1, 2014
3 people are currently reading
80 people want to read
About the author
Fiona Watt
1,343 books82 followersFiona Watt is an Editorial Director and writer at Usborne Publishing. She started working at Usborne in 1989 and has written and edited hundreds of books including baby and novelty, sticker, art and craft, cookery, science and activity books.
Fiona graduated from Exeter University with a B.Ed. (Hons.), specialising in Psychology and Art and Design. After university she worked as a researcher and writer for a company which published educational material for places where children went on school visits (zoos, museums, stately homes etc). She then taught seven, eight, and nine year olds for five years; three years at a state school in Sevenoaks in Kent, and two years at The British School in the Netherlands in The Hague.
Having joined Usborne in 1989, Fiona became an editorial director in 2003, largely responsible for writing baby and novelty books, as well as art and activity titles. She has written over 100 titles for Usborne Publishing, perhaps most notably the, ‘That’s not my ….‘ touchy-feely series.
Fiona graduated from Exeter University with a B.Ed. (Hons.), specialising in Psychology and Art and Design. After university she worked as a researcher and writer for a company which published educational material for places where children went on school visits (zoos, museums, stately homes etc). She then taught seven, eight, and nine year olds for five years; three years at a state school in Sevenoaks in Kent, and two years at The British School in the Netherlands in The Hague.
Having joined Usborne in 1989, Fiona became an editorial director in 2003, largely responsible for writing baby and novelty books, as well as art and activity titles. She has written over 100 titles for Usborne Publishing, perhaps most notably the, ‘That’s not my ….‘ touchy-feely series.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
March 11, 2021
Let us don our wellies and venture into rolling hills of pastureland. Baby lambs are in sight wherever you look. And in this very setting is posed to us one of humanity's fundamental questions: where is the lamb I can call my own?
Do not be like the sceptics who are easily pleased, or the distracted who give up on the task, but allow the question to trouble and permeate your very person. For here we are asked not, "What is the meaning of life?" but "Where is my lamb?"
The first lamb has a nose that is too rough. This probably symbolises the author's respect for the Jungian archetype but an ultimate disappointment in its simplicity.
Onto the second lamb. This lamb's hooves are too bumpy. One hardly needs to point out the allusions to classic works of antiquity, later picked up by Shakespeare. This, devastatingly, is not our lamb either.
The third lamb suffers from fluffy spots, much like a pre-pubescient teen. The author may be recalling her own troubled adolescence. Transitional periods between the naivety of youth and the inevitably of adulthood are not a time of life to find your lamb. The author beckons us onward and ever deeper into the enigma.
When all hope seems lost and the lights appear to have dimmed, the reader feels hope piqued as yet another lamb becomes manifest. We yearn for this to be the lamb. Indeed this lamb is being fed - presumably by a human, though this is just a deduction - from what resembles a baby's bottle. Yet, barely believably, this lamb's back is too fuzzy. As Bertrand Russell was once reputed to ask at a dinner party, "Who wants a lamb with a fuzzy back?" Not me, to be sure.
The plot slows down in the penultimate chapter. The lamb's tail is too woolly. Inpatient readers may be inclined to give up in this glacier-like decrease in pace and confusing plotline. Perhaps that was the author's design. Only the committed will make it to the end of the quest.
The book's conclusion is as abrupt as it is disappointing. After building tension for many chapters, a lamb with soft ears suddenly appears. Inexplicably the reader is called to recognise the lamb as their own. But where, we ask, has this conviction of soft ears emerged from? Is it gut instinct, a universal desire or human conditioning? The author does not sufficiently demonstrate that such yearning is not merely a fruit of the Enlightenment, thereby silencing the voices of under-represented alternative voices. This is certainly the book's major failing.
More sophisticated readers might notice the presence of a rodent throughout the account, and the recurring motif of a butterfly and a bee (though they are never portrayed together). And here we find the most satisfying answer to the book's dilemma: life is found not in reconsidering one's lamb but being mindful of the rodents and butterflies-qua-bees along the pathway.
For after all, what if the lamb we seek we never find beyond the foolish mirage of our weary psyche?
Do not be like the sceptics who are easily pleased, or the distracted who give up on the task, but allow the question to trouble and permeate your very person. For here we are asked not, "What is the meaning of life?" but "Where is my lamb?"
The first lamb has a nose that is too rough. This probably symbolises the author's respect for the Jungian archetype but an ultimate disappointment in its simplicity.
Onto the second lamb. This lamb's hooves are too bumpy. One hardly needs to point out the allusions to classic works of antiquity, later picked up by Shakespeare. This, devastatingly, is not our lamb either.
The third lamb suffers from fluffy spots, much like a pre-pubescient teen. The author may be recalling her own troubled adolescence. Transitional periods between the naivety of youth and the inevitably of adulthood are not a time of life to find your lamb. The author beckons us onward and ever deeper into the enigma.
When all hope seems lost and the lights appear to have dimmed, the reader feels hope piqued as yet another lamb becomes manifest. We yearn for this to be the lamb. Indeed this lamb is being fed - presumably by a human, though this is just a deduction - from what resembles a baby's bottle. Yet, barely believably, this lamb's back is too fuzzy. As Bertrand Russell was once reputed to ask at a dinner party, "Who wants a lamb with a fuzzy back?" Not me, to be sure.
The plot slows down in the penultimate chapter. The lamb's tail is too woolly. Inpatient readers may be inclined to give up in this glacier-like decrease in pace and confusing plotline. Perhaps that was the author's design. Only the committed will make it to the end of the quest.
The book's conclusion is as abrupt as it is disappointing. After building tension for many chapters, a lamb with soft ears suddenly appears. Inexplicably the reader is called to recognise the lamb as their own. But where, we ask, has this conviction of soft ears emerged from? Is it gut instinct, a universal desire or human conditioning? The author does not sufficiently demonstrate that such yearning is not merely a fruit of the Enlightenment, thereby silencing the voices of under-represented alternative voices. This is certainly the book's major failing.
More sophisticated readers might notice the presence of a rodent throughout the account, and the recurring motif of a butterfly and a bee (though they are never portrayed together). And here we find the most satisfying answer to the book's dilemma: life is found not in reconsidering one's lamb but being mindful of the rodents and butterflies-qua-bees along the pathway.
For after all, what if the lamb we seek we never find beyond the foolish mirage of our weary psyche?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 28, 2017
Same structure but good textures.
August 8, 2021
Quick, succinct, and to the point. A great read. SPOILER: If you are concerned, you will find your lamb in the end.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 9, 2015
My baby monkey face (aka the youngest nephew) picked this book out after much deliberation and excited squealing. (He's nine months old and I've already trained him to get excited about book stores...excellent...)
This book has a variety of textures that keep him interested and excited again and again. That's no easy task with a kid at this age; they're absorbing so much about their environment that they lose what attention span they had.
But for this book, baby monkey face put down his favorite rubber ducky, and didn't crawl away to the next adventure until the last page was turned.
(However he doesn't think this board book tastes as good as the Caillou one that his other auntie gave him. Oh well. Can't win 'em all!)
This book has a variety of textures that keep him interested and excited again and again. That's no easy task with a kid at this age; they're absorbing so much about their environment that they lose what attention span they had.
But for this book, baby monkey face put down his favorite rubber ducky, and didn't crawl away to the next adventure until the last page was turned.
(However he doesn't think this board book tastes as good as the Caillou one that his other auntie gave him. Oh well. Can't win 'em all!)
August 6, 2016
These books are cute and well-presented, but I wish they would stop referring to animals as "it."
April 23, 2016
That's not my turkey... That's not my sandwich... That's not my responsibility... That's not my book choice...
July 23, 2019
So far, I mostly just like to eat books and throw them. But mom got me this on the other day and I really like it! (And not just to eat!) She read it to me last night and helped me touch the pages, and this morning I carried it around with me and opened it and felt all the scratchy and soft parts. Mom kept saying I was holding it upside down and trying to turn it but she was wrong for sure.
April 28, 2021
This is a touchy-feely little book for Baby in which the narrator says "that's not my lamb" and states why. Each scenario has different textured patches for Baby to touch. Lovely illustrations and sensory experience.
November 21, 2018
Colourful, interactive and sweet :)
March 9, 2020
all the feels
June 9, 2022
This is one of my daughters favorite books. It is a quick sensory book and she can almost recite the whole thing. I’m going to have to buy a new version because ours is worn out.
October 2, 2022
كتب اللمس اللطيفة والمتينة بخامات مختلفة مفيدة لتحفيز حواس الطفل وتحبيبه في الكتاب.جملة واحد في كل صفحة، وتكرار للعبارات، مناسب للأعمار الصغيرة.
October 30, 2023
Cute board book with lambs and textures.
February 12, 2024
Short but the touch aspect is good in this one. Great book to feel the different areas. Just hard finding our lamb.z
March 20, 2024
In a cafe.
April 19, 2014
This is a cute series. I think that this is a great sensory book for young children. It is a great way to explore the differences in textures. The illustrations are so cute. Who can help themselves from saying Awwww!
January 8, 2015
4.25 stars I LOVE LOVE this series. We tell kids "DON"T TOUGH THAT" and these books it is Mandatory to touch them. I love touching them!! (Just wash your hands afterwards...there is no telling what my hands have touched around this library)
January 28, 2020
A charming touch and feel book perfect for babies and toddlers. These series of books are a big hit with my daughter. Fun to read out loud for mom and fun for baby to feel the different textures. Very cute.
June 26, 2013
There are many of these touchy feely books by Usborn but be aware that there's a large difference between the best and worst. This one is excellent and our little one loves it
March 30, 2016
Short and simple, with a good variety of textures. Very much a hit with Velociraptor.
November 21, 2016
This book taught my daughter the word "wooly" and she now loves using it as an alternative to "fuzzy" and "furry" and "soft."
December 30, 2016
Follows the usual pattern with some nice touchy feely things
January 17, 2026
3 year old picked this out at the library. 3 year old loves touch and feel books so we greatly enjoyed this cute book
August 5, 2017
so adorable and the kids loved it.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews