Customer Reviews

Big Board First 100 Machines (Bright Baby)

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I don't know what it is about 2 year old boys, but when they reach that age they become fascinated with machinery. I've experienced it with all of my nephews, and the latest addition to our family is no different.

This is a large-size, full-color, board book - meaning the pages are thick and sturdy. All it consists of are photographs of real motorized machinery, taken from various angles, with the names of each vehicle shown. There's a page devoted to types of cars, types of trains, types of boats, types of airplanes, types of construction vehicles, types of farm vehicles and types of emergency/city vehicles. So it covers all the bases and is full of images to bring joy to a little boy's heart.

My nephew reads this book every night with his father. Then he reads it over with me when I babysit him. There is just something so adorable seeing a 2 year old seriously pointing out a combine harvester or a dump truck as if it was the most important thing in the world. Not to mention the fact that it's a good item to use if you want the little one to have some quiet time. So if you've got a little boy in your family, or one that you need a gift for, I'd give this book two thumbs up.

Our grandson can point to each of the machines in this book as we name them. It is the book he MUST read each day!

This 11"x11" book for young children contains 14 pages of photographs of 100 machines under the categories "flying machines," "cars," "on the water," "on the tracks," "rescue vehicles," "on the farm," "construction machines," and "on the road." I hate to rain on anyone's parade, in this case the 17 five-star reviews and 1 four-star review that precede this one, but this book has some problems. It lacks stationary machines; is missing some common or interesting vehicles; contains photographs that omit important aspects of the vehicles in question; and has some captions that are uncommon terms or that do not match the photographs.

LACK OF STATIONARY MACHINES: Unlike the 100 machines pictured in this book, not all machines travel from one place to another. Examples include oil drilling rigs, scrap metal shredders, and industrial robots. A better title would have been "First 100 Vehicles."

MISSING SOME COMMON OR INTERESTING VEHICLES: Assuming that the book should focus on vehicles, some vehicles that would have been nice to include are: taxi (although "water taxi" is present); limousine; locomotive (although several are pictured under "on the tracks," they are labeled "trains" which is less specific); railroad cars (e.g., boxcar, flatcar, hopper car, caboose); bicycle (to complement "motorcycle" and "[motorized] scooter"); rocket (although "space shuttle" is pictured); snowmobile; and zamboni. To make room for such vehicles, the book could have eliminated some similar photos (e.g., some of the 8 tractors under "on the farm").

PHOTOS THAT OMIT IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF VEHICLES: "Coal train" and "freight train" show only locomotives, so the reader cannot tell what the trains are carrying. It is not clear if the "subway train" is underground, without which feature the vehicle in question would be a "rapid transit." Due to the "giant excavator" photo lacking any humans, it's difficult to appreciate its size (about 20 feet high). "Big rig" shows only a frontal view; a side view of a "semi" ("semi-trailer" or "tractor-trailer" truck) would have been more helpful. Etc.

CAPTIONS THAT ARE UNCOMMON TERMS OR THAT DO NOT MATCH PHOTOS: Assuming that you want this book to grow your child's vocabulary, then the words should be common and should match the pictures, right? Unfortunately... What's labeled a "surfboard" is better described as a "windsurfing board." Google "airport fire rig" and you get fewer than 1000 results ("airport fire truck" occurs much more frequently). "Eurostar" and "Inter City Express" trains are found in Europe, but the audience for the book appears to be Americans. "Mountain train" appears to be a "tram" climbing or descending a hill. The picture of "airport express" gives no clue that the train is heading to or coming from an airport. "Quad bike" is less common a term than "all-terrain vehicle." "Cable repair truck" is rarely used; what is pictured is generically called a "bucket truck." Etc.

Nevertheless, the book is: (1) interesting for kids due to the colorful, large pictures, and (2) durable due to the thick pages. So I'll give it three stars.

I purchased this book for my grandson who is going to soon be 3 years old. My son and daughter-in-law requested that I purchase a book for him that has large enough pix for viewing numerous machines--not just one machine--where machinery is clearly defined in picture, as well as labeled for clarity. They wanted a book that was a little bit challenging so that he could learn but yet at the level he could understand what he was seeing. This book fits that description perfectly for my grandson's age group! It is exciting for him, not boring! And heavy duty enough to withstand being thrown a time or two! Or sticky fingerprints easily wiped off! The book is easy to hold and is even more excellent when mom or dad read the book with the child! The price even with mailing costs was good also! Definitely quality with a good price!

Bought this for my 2 year old son. He loves the book it has big colorful pictures. Book occupies him wonderfully and is great for learning!

Mr. Priddy, how could you? This book should be classified as a controlled substance. Our twin toddlers are so addicted to First 100 Machines that they continue to "request" it after a year of repeated readings, often 3 or 4 times in a row. Another gripe is with the quality of construction of the book. It has disintegrated and now is just a pile of tattered, chewed, well loved pages. We have been forced to re-bind the book (twice) with packing tape. Is there not a warranty you can give the parents of your wide-eyed minions? We give the book 5 stars.

Both my sons have enjoyed this book, which is large, colorful and durable. It is pretty detailed regarding the various kinds of farm equipment, trains, etc. but it won't confuse them if they are very young and just starting to get concepts. Both my sons are book-rippers, and this lasted for about 2 years (til my youngest finally did it in).

My little 16mth old son loves vehicles and pulls this book out everyday and will spend a min of 10-15 mins reading this book, he loves it :)

There are a few duplicates but this is a very nice book for our 2 year old son. We enjoyed the other books in this series when he was younger and this one did was right in line with those.

This is a great book for a pre-reader little boy, though little girls would probably like it, too. It's a sturdy board book and has beautiful colorful photos. It arrived very well packaged and right on time. My grandsons love it.