Cozy Classics: Pride and Prejudice [Board book]

This is a beautiful adaptation of one of my very favorite books. They somehow manage to convey the narrative arc of the story in only 12 words, the felt figures are fantastic representations of each character, and the photographs are really gorgeous. This is my new go-to baby gift (I've already bought it for two babies!). Wonderful baby book!

It's not often we find ourselves truly examining or appreciating the board books that we read our young children and babies. Usually they are either purely educational or entertainment with bright colorful pictures usually focusing on first words, colors or some zany story. In this sense Cozy Classics is a breath of fresh air and an idea that executes flawlessly.

Taking the classics, such as the first two available books Pride and Prejudice and Moby Dick, in twelve simple words the authors boil down the essence of the story and distill it in an easy to understand format geared toward the little ones. Bringing classic literature to infants would be great by itself, but the fantastic visual accompaniment is what gives the books a distinctive look and feel.

On each page you'll find illustrations of a needle-felted variety. Various dolls and set pieces are lovingly lighted and pictured depicting various scenes from the classic. The scenes themselves are usually set up well and clear from just looking at them what is going on. Even the overall quality of the book itself is outstanding, every page is heavy and completely baby slobber repellant.

In another nice move the book itself is fashioned after an actual novel. Most book boards tend to be small and square or long and rectangular while with Cozy Classics the spine and everything about the book mimics an actual novel. Intentional or not I found it to be a fantastic touch to an already world class experience.

I have two children, a 6 year old boy and a 4 and a half month baby girl. Pride and Prejudice was the book I received by mail and my daughter was instantly entranced by the well done pictures of the dolls. In fact, still building depth perception, she continually tried to take the dolls out of the pages; the quality is that good. To maintain her attention is impressive enough and the lovingly stitched pictures did just that.

My older son, still working on reading in school, was thrilled to be able to read the entirety of the book to his little sister. Not only that, but the pictures and gist of the story had left him intrigued to learn more about the book himself and led to me giving him a more beefy outline of the story until he can read it on his own.

Cozy Classics sets out to bring classics to our children and raise both the narrative and physical quality of board books. I can say without hesitation that they have succeeded splendidly. With Christmas coming up I can think of few better gifts for someone's new bundle of joy or tenacious toddler than the gift of classic literature in such a lovable little package.

I loved this book before I even opened it. The idea - making a board book out of Jane Austen's most treasured novel - is just too delicious for words. And the cover! Look at dear Elizabeth Bennet protecting her bonnet from the wind and tugging at her muddy skirts. Priceless.

Brothers Jack and Holman Wang condensed "Pride and Prejudice" down to twelve toddler-friendly words. Then they created and photographed sculptured dolls to illustrate the simplified story. The Wang brothers make the dolls by needle felting: using a barbed needle to tangle and compact wool fibers, forming three-dimensional felt sculptures. They are remarkably lively and absolutely beautiful.

The first spread displays the word "friends" and we see Mr. Bingley smiling, his hand on the shoulder of Mr. Darcy. They are standing in front of the first page of the novel where we can just make out that oh-so famous opening line, "It is a truth universally acknowledged..." Delightful!

I give this four stars only because I think that it has a niche audience - if you don't know P&P, you'll still like the book, but you won't be able to fully appreciate it. Perhaps it will inspire you to read the original! If you already enjoy Jane Austen, "Cozy Classics: Pride and Prejudice" is a must.