Book Review: Interactive Book, No Electricity Required

Press Here by Hervé Tullet

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If all goes well, this book will be destroyed. A tablet in book form, the author encourages readers to blow, tilt, shake, and press a series of dots.  Yes, you read that correctly: readers really do simply "press here."  They do so with an enthusiasm previously reserved for yelling at Mo Willems' pigeon, and we're not just talking about kid readers here.  And lest a reader be careful when shaking a book, the next page tells them to do it again, harder?  Have both tape and a relaxed smile close at hand.
As an ELL teacher, this is a fun way to get a sense of a students' understanding of basic command sentences.  The casual language ("Hmmmm.  Interesting." "That's funny!") provides an opportunity to witness a reader's prosidy, too.  This is a boon for those early meetings where the need to assess competes with the need to set students at ease.  It also provides insight into new students' personalities: who enthusiastically throws themself into the task, who is disappointed to realize that their actions don't actually affect the outcome, who is self-conscious about seeming silly?
Then when the day is done and you are alone in the room, you, too, can Press Here.


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