The Gift for Any Trekie Brood

Are you a Star Trek nerd who beat the odds and managed to reproduce? Need a baby book that’s as much for you as your kid? Well then…

I love Star Trek, especially The Original Series (TOS). As my friends (and wife) can attest to, William Shatner is a personal hero. So it’s more than a little surprising that I didn’t discover this board book for little tykes. It was my wife and daughter while at the library.“Star Trek Book of Opposites” aims to teach toddlers the difference between hot and cold, near and far, big and small. Using stills from the original series, it sounds like the greatest idea in the world. I mean, who wouldn’t want to foster a love an appreciation for: science fiction, William Shatner and the 60s? It’s like bonding with your kid over hockey, or wrestling, or crazy glue.

 

I want that photo of Kirk on my wall…

There are some fun photos, but my overall impression is that the book is more for the parent’s amusement than a tool for teaching young ones.

The most forced “happy” expressions I’ve ever seen…

Many of the photos are campy, seemingly designed for (our) fun more than anything. One spread in particular was a little troubling:

Was the salt sucking monster really mean?

I remember the episode with the salt sucking monster. It wasn’t mean, just hungry. My worry is it teaches kids to be fearful of something that looks a little scary or creepy or different. Weren’t we taught in school to never read a book by its cover?

For pure comic hilarity, “Star Trek Book of Opposites” is definitely worth the ten bucks. As a teaching tool? I’d stick with Thomas the Tank Engine.