It's no secret that my toddler and I love the Gossie & Friends collection of books. Gossie, Gertie, BooBoo, Ollie and Peedie are such wonderfully simple characters. So when we found Gossie & Friends: A First Flap Book at the library I grabbed it. And ever since it arrived at our house, Keegan has read it and reread it repeatedly.

Unlike the other books, this book is HUGE. The other books in the series measure 6 by 6 inches, whether they are the board book version or simply hard covered. But Gossie & Friends: A First Flap Book is 10 by 10 inches. Here is the best shot of Keegan holding it so you can see how big it really is. The pages are board, making them sturdy so that we can open flaps and peer at hidden illustrations and text.

Another great aspect of this book is that it introduces useful concepts for babies and preschoolers. It touches on colors, seasons, counting to 5, up-down-over-under and matching. This is where the flaps come into play, covering additional pictures and text to help reinforce these concepts.

For example, on one spread it introduces BooBoo as a blue gosling on the left hand page. It wants us to find something on the facing page that is blue like BooBoo. One flap shows yellow straw, another has red apples and the final is a blue dish. Under each flap it asks if these items are blue like BooBoo. But if you lift the flap with the straw, underneath it you see a picture of Gertie and the text reads, "No, it's yellow like Gertie." Under the apple flap it has a picture of Gossie looking at her red boots. The text says, "No, they're red like Gossie's boots." And under the food bowl flap it shows BooBoo eating from her blue bowl and it says, "Yes, just like hungry BooBoo!"

The illustrations are simple, charming and have special surprises hidden in the simple pen, ink and watercolor artwork. For example, revisiting the blue bowl flap there is a mouse eating from the bowl and two humming birds whizzing by. When you lift the flap you now see the mouse is still eating from the bowl, BooBoo is now enjoying a bite too and the humming birds are zigg-zagging around.

Gossie & Friends: A First Flap Book is 12 pages, including cover, and approximately 200 words. It is copyright 2006 by Olivier Dunrea and published by Houghton Mifflin Company.

I found it to be a delightful change of pace from the other charming Gossie series of books. It had educational value, fun flaps and is HUGE hit - both in size and content. We love it. An immediate household hit. I hope you read it soon.

I love the books my son loves. When he asks for a book by name after I read it to him once, I know it is a winner. That was the case with these colorful characters. A few of the stories we read so far are:

1. Gossie - Gossie loves to wear her bright, red boots everyday. One day they are missing! Where could they be? Should she keep looking, or will her boots find their way back to her on their own - with a little help from a little friend.

2. Gossie & Gertie - Gossie wears bright, red boots. Gertie wears bright, blue boots. And they are best friends. Gertie does everything Gossie does - or does she? This little gosling has her own path to tread. Maybe bossy Gossie can benefit from following little Gertie. A great gift for a bossy older sister!

3. Ollie - Why won't Ollie come out of his egg to play? He has the attitude of a toddle, before he is even hatched!

4. Ollie the Stomper - Now that he is out of the egg, we can learn more about this little guy's personality. Loud, stubborn and very much a toddler. Gossie and Gertie help him along and try to keep him happy. A good book for children expecting a new sibling.

5. Peedie - Peedie is such a forgetful little gosling that always wear a bright, red cap. Until he forgets where he puts it! Oh no! Maybe if he remembers everything else he should have done, he will find his baseball cap on the way.

6. BooBoo - A blue gosling with an insatiable appetite for anything! Even bubbles are a "good food" to her, until it gives her some bubbly burps! A great book for your pickiest eater.

Other Gossie & Friends Books
1. Gossie & Friends
2. Gossie's Busy Day
3. Merry Christmas, Gossie

Publishing Information
Gossie & Friends books are published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com

I knew the name Gossie before I knew Olivier Dunrea. I picked up Gossie from a bookstore when I was traveling out of state with my son. The tale of the adorable yellow gosling who loved to wear bright, red boots captured my attention. I bought the book and it soon became a favorite of my toddler. Soon after we bought Gossie & Gertie. That was when I really paid attention to who Dunrea was and whether he wrote other captivating gosling stories. Lucky us, he did. So BooBoo, Peedie and Ollie found there way into our house.

They are great stories for babies and toddlers by themselves or as a collection. The illustrations are simple, charming and have special surprises hidden in the simple pen, ink and watercolor artwork. Whether it is a little spider sitting on Ollie or a mouse sneaking a bite from BooBoo's bowl of food. And the 6 by 6 inch books are the perfect size for little ones to read on their own. The books come in board book form, tough for rough readers. And they come with a hard cover and paper pages for older children.

Amazon.com says the books are meant for ages 4 to 8, but Gossie and Gertie were among my sons' first words - before he turned 2.