This is the one that stands as tall as the toddler reading it. Two feet high and two feet long when it is open, so it does not sit on a lap, it goes on the floor and the child crawls along it. Penguin Random House put it back in print in September 2025 after years out of it.

Over 800 words are named on those pages, and the size is what makes them findable. A word book at normal scale asks a two year old to pick one small thing out of a crowded page. At this scale a fire engine is the size of her hand, so she gets it first time, and getting it first time is what makes her want the next one.

The pages are Busytown as Richard Scarry always drew it: a high street of shops with every vehicle labelled, houses cut open so you can see into every room at once, a harbour of ships and tugs and a seaplane, and a road running with fire engines, ambulances and cranes. Lowly Worm is on the cover in his green hat and he is somewhere on every page after it.

It is built for more than one child at a time, which is why it works for a playgroup or a classroom floor as well as a bedroom. Board book, 14 pages, 16.31 by 24.31 in with a 0.67 in spine, by Richard Scarry. Random House Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Penguin Random House, 2025. ISBN-13 9780394873749. Publisher age guidance: 0 to 3 years.