Toes, Ears, & Nose!
Every flap lifts a piece of clothing to find the body part underneath—the hat comes off to find hair, the mitten to find fingers—so between pages the child runs the same game on their own body. Short enough to finish before they lose interest.
Toes, Ears, & Nose! by Marion Dane Bauer is estimated to take about 3.5 minutes to read aloud (80 words, about 1 sentence a page), and it lands best with children aged 0-3.
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- Estimated read-aloud time
- about 3.5 minutesEstimated read-aloud time
- Estimated word count
- 80Our estimate
- Sentences per page
- 1Sentence per page
- Re-read tolerance
- 4/5repeat friendly
- Vocabulary level
- 1/5plain words
- Best for
- Ages 0-3Our editorial fit
Our review
This lift-the-flap book uses clothing items to reveal different body parts, turning reading into a game of discovery. The rhyme and rhythm make it easy for very young children to follow along.
The simplicity of the concept is ideal for infants and young toddlers. It is a quick, interactive way to teach body parts through play and discovery.
Before you buy it
At only fourteen very simple pages, this is really intended as a first-birthday gift rather than something for a two-year-old to enjoy.
Themes
- body parts
- clothes
- flaps
- babies
Books like Toes, Ears, & Nose!
Matched by refrain, density, length, and listener—not just the subject.
Questions parents ask
How long does it take to read Toes, Ears, & Nose! aloud?
About 3.5 minutes at an unhurried pace, including a standard allowance for page turns, pictures and participation, from a word count of 80. Stopping for a longer conversation on every page will add more time.
What age is Toes, Ears, & Nose! actually for?
Ages 0-3 in our testing, which is narrower than the publisher's range. With 1 sentence a page and vocabulary at 1 out of 5, it asks for that much attention span and no more.
Does Toes, Ears, & Nose! survive being read on repeat?
Yes. It survives a fortnight of nightly repeats, which is the real test.
Is Toes, Ears, & Nose! a good book for a child who will not sit still?
It helps that it rhymes, and it has a refrain a child can join in with, and it asks the child questions to answer out loud. Those three features are what keep a wriggling toddler listening, far more than the subject matter does.
Will my child memorise Toes, Ears, & Nose!?
Probably, and fast. The book leans on a repeated refrain, and at 4 out of 5 for re-read tolerance it survives the nightly repeats that get a book memorised. Expect your child to chant the pattern back before they can actually read.
Can a beginning reader read Toes, Ears, & Nose! on their own?
It is closer than most picture books. With 1 sentence a page and plain vocabulary (1 out of 5), a confident early reader can attempt it, though it is written to be read aloud first.
What themes does Toes, Ears, & Nose! cover?
We tag it with body parts, clothes, flaps and babies. Those are the threads that actually run through the book, not just the ones on the cover, which is how it earns its place on our themed lists rather than a keyword match.
