Is It Rough? Is It Smooth? Is It Shiny?

Pretty much any book by Tana Hoban, just buy. It makes kids smart. No words=discussion=more brian cells used and created. Her photos are excellent; playful, clear, simple, and include kids. My only complaint is that I wouldn't really consider "shiny" to be a tactile description like rough or smooth, so it's not strictly a book all about touch, but that's really just more room for discussion with your budding scientists on how to classify and label objects using their five senses. A great addition to any child's library, Kindergarten classroom or science center.

This book is good to encourage descriptive vocabulary in young children. The pages contain no text and one large photograph each.

Interesting pictures but no captions or text. It can be challenging to figure out what concept the pages are trying to support.