Here it is, all shiny and new, the book I’m going to try to destroy. Just typing that makes me cringe.
And why do I want to destroy this book? Well, the name is an inherent challenge: “Indestructibles: Chew Proof, Rip Proof, Nontoxic, 100% Washable.” We’ll see about that…
At the same time, I really want their claims to be true! Even though I don’t have babies any more, I have a pile of board books that have been torn, bent, pealed, chewed, and eaten (literally) by my kids. How great would it have been to hand your baby/toddler a book and let them have at it?
In case you think I’m exaggerating about books being eaten at my house, I have photo evidence.
Not to mention, unbelievably, Indestructibles feel much more like real paper than plastic. And we all know toddlers much prefer to feel like big kids with real paper books.
The book I chose, Jungle Rumble, is wordless, but the illustrations are lovely and fit the texture of the pages nicely. I believe the animal books are wordless while the ones the feature babies have text. But, face it, these books are more for the joyful experience of handling pages in a real book than they are for reading.
So, I put this book to the test.
Test1: The Pool. We took our Indestructible for a swim. (My 3-year-old now wants to take it on every swim). It held up extremely well. It even floated! Verdict: passed!
Test 2: The Wash. I put this book through the ringer with both a wash and a dry. I was actually pretty nervous about the drier part, but it came out great. The corners are a bit more wrinkly, but that was the only discernable change. Verdict: passed!
Test 3: The Tear. I was getting pretty confident in the indestructibility of my Indestructible at this point, so I decided to let my 11-year-old try her best to tear it. The actual pages held up beautifully, but when she tried to rip it along the sewn spine–YIKES–it ripped like perforated paper. Still, I think it pretty unlikely that your toddler will be able to rip the book apart like she did And even if they do, I’m pleased to report my 3-year-old loves the book as much as ever. Verdict: neutral.
Overall, with the real-feeling pages, near-indestructibility, and fun art make these ideal books for your babies and toddlers. Even if they aren’t completely indestructible.
If you’re interested, I’ve got the whole series of Indestructibles linked up below.
Okay, this post was so fun. Even though I didn’t put our Indestructible book through a series of tests, it held up remarkably well with an actual toddler, so I’d say it passed for us too!
Lol! I’m glad to hear it holds up with an actual toddler! A friend of mine has been raving about these and convinced me to get one for review purposes. 🙂