I received a copy of this book through Netgalley. This is my honest review.

This book was clearly targeted towards the pre-K age group with the games included in the story. It was a lot of things like saying the alphabet in order, matching items that get used together, saying what people's favorite hobby is based on what they're wearing. Not going to lie, some of the games were a little tough for me but...LOL.

The illustrations appeared to be done in crayon, they had that almost wispy quality you can get if you're not pushing hard with your crayons. My copy didn't have the page layouts quite like I'm sure they are in a paid for copy, so some of my illustrations were a little wonky, but I wasn't reading this with a toddler, so that didn't really matter.

I'd probably be okay reading this book with a kid a few times, although the repetitiveness of the games might also test my patience with too many re-reads (although logical me understands that repetitiveness would be great for the toddler). Overall I give this book 4.2 out of 5 stars.

An absolutely great book for children. Cute pictures and a wonderfully story. My daughter enjoyed the whole thing.

Thank you to NetGalley, and the Publisher for the eARC! This book is so cute! I love the different games it has throughout reading and how it is set up like you are playing these games with the characters. This would be a great addition to a preschooler's busy bag or to use when the child needs some quiet time.

This is a really great interactive book for children. It really stimulates the mind and has a wide variety of activities to do. It is colorful and very appealing to children. The illustrations are cute as is Jay and his friends. This is a great way for children to learn while having fun.

This book is kind of tedious to go through with children under the age of 4-5. The artwork was very well done and the characters were so cute. I would definitely recommend this for preschooled age children, just not toddlers.

This book is perfect to go through with my toddler and talk about the different pictures. Great for vocabulary development and speech. The only problem I noticed is the book is very long so most littles wouldn’t be able to sit through the whole book. So I would pick just a couple pages to read at a time.

This book is super cute and fun. With little games or activities on every page and bright attractive illustrations this is a book all small children will enjoy. Can be used to spark conversations and imaginations and I plan to search out the French edition for addition to my classroom library because I feel slightly older than target audience (pre-k, k) primary class of second language learners would also enjoy this fun attractive book.

Play with Jay!
5 Stars

Play with Jay! is such a fun, educational and enjoyable read. The illustrations are bright and colorful. This part picture book, and part interactive artwork will keep the reader actively engaged. I love the prompts to get children's brains thinking and problem solving. This is a great book that will keep you on your toes.

Come join Jay the bear, Nora the rabbit and Clementine the bird on an adventure. There're fun games and activities on each page. Readers can engage in their own way with the activities. This book encourages readers to use your imagination and get as creative as you want. I love this book!

Thank you, NetGalley and Orca Book Publishing, for an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This is a wonderful book to help garner interactions between the reader and the child. I can easily see this book being used in a small storytime setting.

5 ⭐️

Wow this is such a fantastic interactive book. Once it's published this will be in list as perfect books as a gift.

This is an educational book that follows Jay the Bear and Nora the bunny. On each page the reader has a task to help them complete. From finding things, sorting, naming the items etc.

I loved all the pages but a couple of my favorite ones were calling out what each shape was and if you don't know the shape can you make up a name. As some are the typical square triangle while others are squiggles or animals. I also loved the find the differences between two identical twin rabbits. As there were slight differences but they definitely have their own identities and personalities.

The illustrations are very cute and simple, the details in the characters and items are perfect.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Orca Book a publishers for this advance reader copy. My review is voluntarily my own.

I will be posting my review to major retail sites and my Instagram page the.littlest.bookworm at the time of publication.

This was so, so cute. I requested it because my husband’s nickname is Jay, and my boys are affectionately called Bear and Bird. What a perfect book for my family. My boys had so much fun with this book, it will definitely be a reread many times.

This is a really unique book for young readers. Introduce important concepts and ideas while being fun and interactive. Perfect as a read aloud or independent activity book!

This is a fun engaging interactive book! Little ones can playfully imagine and solve unique questions and prompts that are presented on each page.

Jay the bear, Nora the rabbit and Clementine the bird host the adventure and invite young readers to partake in activities that will incite their curiosity and exercise problem solving as they encounter monsters, magic and mazes. Early learning concepts are presented including letters, numbers, shapes, comparisons and feelings.

There is no answer key offered so the open-ended prompts leave room for lots of discussion and creativity. Vocabulary building is built into each of the 21 fun activities.

"Play with Jay!" will have kids returning again and again to enjoy this wonderful interactive experience. I love the whole concept of the book and highly recommend it!