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Though she’s only a few months old, my daughter already spends her days surrounded by books. She likes to hang out in my office, where she can study the shelves and shelves of colorful covers, with titles ranging from serious classics to fluffy chick lit to the latest young adult sensation. While she’s a little too young to delve into the classics with her lit-loving mom, though, she can still enjoy the literary-themed lessons found in BabyLit books like Dracula.
I can already see the look of concern on your face. No, I’m not getting my baby ready for naptime by reading her horror stories. BabyLit’s Dracula isn’t what you think. It’s not a board book version of Bram Stoker’s classic vampire novel—and you won’t find tales of blood-sucking monsters on its chunky little pages. Instead, Dracula is a counting primer with a Dracula theme. Each page features eerily imaginative illustrations by Alison Oliver, encouraging young readers to learn their numbers while counting various items from the gothic horror novel—things like 1 castle or 2 friends (Mina and Lucy, that is) or 5 heroes.
Of course, while the illustrations are whimsical, they’re definitely dark, too—and kids are also taught to count things like 6 tombstones and 9 boxes (coffins, actually). Fortunately, though, young kids won’t really understand that they’re counting such grisly items. Lit-geeky moms and dads like me, meanwhile, will love the idea of teaching their little ones to count using a book that was inspired by a literary classic. And it’s just plain fun to flip through the pages, recollecting parts of the story while counting along.
Sure, your infant won’t learn a whole lot about classic literature by flipping through the pages of this creepy little book (which, in this case, is probably for the best). He or she will, however, be mesmerized by the bold and simple images, most of which are presented in a baby-friendly color palette of black, white, and red.
Really, though, books like Dracula are just as much for parents as they are for kids. So if you’re shopping for a shower gift for your favorite English major mom-to-be, this eerie collection of 123s is sure to be a hit.
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