Tails

by Matthew Van Fleet

Tails are irresistible to toddlers--though most are beyond the reach of small hands. But now there's reason for tail fans everywhere to rejoice: a colorful collection of tails created just for those eager toddlers to tug, pat, and even scratch and sniff!

Matthew Van Fleet's lovable menagerie features furry tails, spiny tails, shiny tails, and tails that wag--all designed to inspire and withstand hours of interactive play. While pulling tabs and opening gatefolds, those tail tuggers can also learn to count from one to ten. Tails is so full of action and fun that even parents will revel in repeated readings.

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

20 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Matthew Van Fleet's innovative books have been introducing children to basic concepts for over twenty years. His unique formats invite toddlers to touch, press, pull, lift and even sniff as they explore colors, shapes, numbers, letters, opposites and more. His books include the #1 New York Times bestsellers TAILS and DOG as well as the New York Times bestsellers CAT, ALPHABET, and HEADS.

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked: being a dad and repairing the broken pull-tabs when she broke them.
she liked: pulling the pull-tabs so much they broke (see above).

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I saw this one in Chapters one day and had to get it - then I ordered one online and had it sent to my sister for my niece's second birthday. It's a tactile book, with different textures to feel, and also has flaps and moving parts - unlike the pop-up books of my childhood, this one is very sturdy with very thick pages, so it looks like it will last longer under children's enthusiastic fingers!

It also has great vocabulary, teaching animal names and also body parts, adjectives and verbs. Each spread of double pages focuses on different kinds of animal tails, with interactive parts that kids can make move, flaps to open and some great detail in what the animals are getting up to. There's some new vocabulary but the illustrations really complement the descriptions; at the end, it counts the animals and encourages kids to go back and make sure they're all there, which means identifying the different animals and counting them (up to 10). There were even a couple of animals I'd never heard of!

[Shanna Gonzalez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tactile books, with their touchable pictoral inserts, movable pull-tabs, and trite verbiage, are invariably intriguing to the preschool set and wearying to parents. This one is a nice change. It features a collection of appealing baby animals -- not just the usual pigs, racoons, beavers and tigers, but also pandas, weasels, tamarins, and alligators. Each page features a toddler-friendly lift-the-flap, pull-tab, and/or touchable insert, and each scene is introduced with well-paced, punchy rhyming text describing the different tails' attributes. The vocabulary is more varied than the standard board book fare, and many parents will be able to survive two dozen readings without feeling the urge to hide the book on a high shelf.

Tails is better constructed than most books of this genre, with sturdy pull-tabs and heavy pages, and it might even survive more than one child's loving attention. There's a counting and eye-spy activity included at the very end, and each animal is helpfully labeled in the final page. This is a great addition to a preschooler's library.

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is so cute and it’s the perfect toddler and baby book. It’s fun and educational to touch all the various tails and see the pictures of the animals they belong to. There’s even a little counting lesson included.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting story that combines tactile learning with unusual animals and a counting game at the end. Very entertaining for the younger ones.

[Jaelynn Mikkola · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very nice
It is a cool book
Thanks

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good interactive and bright book on tails for kids! There are textures, flaps to flip, tabs to pull. Little kids and babies would enjoy this.

[Kyle Carey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Greatest book ever written.

[Abby · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 3m old baby loves grabbing at the pages and seems interested in all the textured tails! Lots of fun tabs to pull in the future too. Def a fave.

[Diana Lynn]

The skunk scratch and sniff STILL STINKS after 21 years...who would do that? lol

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sensory delight for young children (and adults reading the book to them). This is the ultimate board book with textures, different colors, even a stinky spot that can be smelled. Although a sturdier book, I don't recommend letting very young children handle it as there are thinner pages and delicate action pages. While listed on my "children-numbers" shelf it is not a traditional counting book. It does contain a built-in counting feature though -- the child can flip through the book (most likely with the help of an adult) and find specific animals to be able to count from one to ten.

[Vanessa West · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tails was given to my son at such an early age but we have been reading it to him ever since he could begin to reach for things. The realistic illustrations weren't enough for this book, they added touchable textures, furs and movable objects. The books main point os the animals and tails of course, it is a very cute book for young kids to read. This picture book is entitled for a young audience such as kindergarten and younger. It is a great book that would allow my students to read and keep their interest when I have a classroom.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

As far as texture based books go, this one is heads
(or tails?) above the rest. The illustrations are whimsical and informative (pulling tails makes snoozers grumpy - a lesson my 3 year old hasn't quite learned yet). And the interactive features are sturdy! My kids will spend hours wagging the pig's tail. One of the features I like the best are the post-reading activities (counting all the animals, learning the unusual names for the menagerie, etc.)

[Crystal Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love, Love, Love this book. This was our best selling kids book at the bookstore I used to manage! Very sturdy cardboard pull tabs and lift the flaps that would be pretty indestructible for young hands.

[Siskiyou-Suzy · Rating 3 out of 5]

That skunk page is legitimately horrible. It smells so bad. I had this in my classroom at OCC and I remember the kids and my assistant cracking up over it and carrying it around to try to make other kids (and me) take a big whiff and then gag. Oh, children, so much fun.

[Maggi Rohde · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly textured!

[Melissa]

Board Book
Tails, 2017

What kind of tail does a tiger have? What kind of tail does an alligator have? Animals have all sorts of tails from a tiger’s furry tail to a porcupine’s spiny tail. This delightful book introduces children to the various descriptions for tails from long and short to old and new. At the end of the book, readers are challenged to search for and count all the animals throughout the story.

The book is written entirely in rhyme and features bright colorful pictures of all the animals. It uses flaps and pull tabs to make the book come more alive. It’s a book babies and toddlers would enjoy playing with.

[Chantel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This interactive board book was lots of fun reading. It starts outlined with a window of multi-sensory tails for preschool age children to enjoy. Each page articulates the difference between tails. For example, tails are long and stumpy. The rhythm of the words gracefully introduces antonyms, nouns, verbs, and counting the animals just to name a few. The hidden doors add surprises promising more to come. I picked this book based on the topic; I wanted to learn more about different kinds of tails.

[Ashley Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Genre: Picture books- Baby/board or interactive book
Awards: none
Audience: 2-4 years old
A. This book is designed with thick pages, so it is not a long read. It has few words on each page.
B. The illustrator uses texture such as fur and moveable parts to allow the book to appeal to the child that is interacting with it.
C. This book helps teach concepts like counting and opposites while being interactive to keep the children engaged as they read.
D. What are some types of tails we saw in the book?

[Fonda Rush · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a sweet book for kids {and adults}. It's all about the tails of different animals complete with tactile additions, like scales, fur, and flashy metallic paper. This book shows the animals in their habitat and uses a few words to describe the pictures. It has fold-outs and moveable parts. The book is thick, so little hands can grasp the elements without tearing the pages. The book for is ages 2 to 5, but I'm 61 and enjoyed it thoroughly.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE this book! I'm thrilled to see the great variety of animals featured here (including my favorite, the beaver!), and the tactile tails that are included are a lot of fun. There's also a scavenger hunt-type activity at the very end. In addition, this book has pull tabs and fold-out pages, and they're much sturdier than other children's books I've seen. Will my son rip it somehow? Probably. But I'm still impressed with how much more rugged this book is than others.

[Kerry Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recommend for your little reader. [Children's book. Great for ages 1yr+.]

My little one love the entire Van Fleet collection of interactive children’s books. Tails is skewed more to the tactical elements for little fingers to explore. 4 Stars only because my little one loves the other books with more pull tabs just a little more.

[Holli · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the pictures in this one. Although I can live quite happily not having been able to smell the skunk sticker. I have them wander about near my house a lot. Believe me, one doesn’t have to wait long in their lives to find out what a skunk smells like.

[Sorento62 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sophisticated touch and feel book with fold out pages and push pull panels. Also opportunity for extra counting activities. Several somewhat eclectic animals are included: pangolins, tamarins, weasels, boars, and bush babies.

[The Book Squirrel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This board book has chunky flaps, pulls and textured inserts (including a scratch and sniff skunk!), talking about different tails and how animals use them. It also includes numerical literacy with counting the different animals.

[Little Seesaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the ultimate board book. There are things to feel and touch! Pages to flip open and to slide. The artwork is adorable and for a book that does so much it is very sturdy and durable for rambunctious little readers!

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

flaps, pull tabs, textures ... lots of ways for young readers to interact with this book (even a 'scratch 'n sniff -- but that wore down pretty quickly)

colorful, recognizable animals

adjectives, counting, naming

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adorable fun! Nice to see a variety of animals.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute! I like the Alphabet one better, but I love how sturdy this series of books is.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first, I wasn't a fan. Then after I read it about 300 times, I learned to love it, especially the peacock tail.