The Co-optation of Children's Books

Why do children's books begin to lose their magic by the third go-round? It has to be more than just that nagging never-ending to-do list we try to squeeze in between tucking baby away and the end of the day. Or perhaps it is because our books just aren't fancy enough. Like Dr. Seuss's ABC book--a ridiculously long children's favorite that also happens to be merely two dimensional.

Well, finally someone--a French someone by the name of Marion Bataille--has beat the innovative, creative-types to the chase and won a place in the hearts of parents and children alike with ABC3D. Good thing, it's not available for sale until October, because that gives me enough time to figure out if this is really a children's book.

I could risk becoming one of those parents who co-opts her child's toys. You know the kind of parent who uses their child as an excuse to buy something they really want for themselves. And when the time comes and the child actually wants to play with the toy, he simply cannot. Or I could publicly admit that I want it for myself. Because this is truly a very cool book--one that, should I decide to purchase, neither Hayes nor any of his grubby-fingered friends dare not touch.