(2) PS In this beautifully designed board book in the vein of Becker's You Are Light (rev. 9/19) and others, the die-cuts are just part of the attraction. Brief, lyrical text encourages stillness and assures readers and listeners, "We'll forge our faith / with winter light... // till days grow long once more." Lovely, painterly illustrations work with the text to allude to several holiday and winter customs involving light and color, with aptly shaped arrangements of die-cuts (snowflakes, a wreath), some with tinted material embedded so light can shine through.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2024

(2) PS This hybrid accordion board book gives babies the best of both worlds. To many of the iconic images from Hoban’s classic board books Black on White and White on Black (both published in 1993) have now been added color photos of ­adorable children wearing or holding one of the objects shown in the black-and-white images. A baby drinks from a bottle (on a page ­abutting the original silhouette of a bottle), a young child holds a flower, another baby wears a bib, etc. Sure to keep the very youngest book-users enthralled during “tummy time.”

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2024

(1) K-3 A figure stands on the edge of a boat (on the title-page spread) and then dives into the sea, a luminous, full moon shining brightly in the background. Once in the sea, the diver's headlamp leads the way. At a coral reef, "batfish and triggerfish find safe places to rest at night in the holes, caves, and cracks...a reef is like an underwater hotel." We learn that parrotfish make a sleeping bag like "gooey cocoon" constructed from mucus they produce in their glands. When the diver dares to turn off the headlamp, bioluminescent plankton appear like "a constellation of stars." Lu guides readers on a journey revealing a variety of life thriving in a wondrous world. The evocative mixed-media illustrations, mostly rendered in grays with sprinklings of color, leave readers with the distinct feeling of being in unfamiliar territory. The book is bound horizontally; rather than left and right pages, spreads are composed of pages above and below the gutter, creating a below-the-surface perspective. The innovative bookmaking also features heavy-stock pages, many of which include elegantly incorporated flaps providing factual information. Lu has produced a beautiful exploration of the "inky depths" -- a book to dive into again and again.

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2024

(2) PS These lift-the-flap books creatively showcase threatened or endangered creatures (Countdown) and the ABCs (Alphabet; a reissue from 2003, rev. 1/04). In Countdown, left-hand pages present a spelled-out number, beginning with ten and counting down to one, on a textured mixed-media background that hints at a habitat. Right-hand pages (which lift up) are matte colors with square or rectangular die-cuts revealing additional glimpses of the scene below -- and in the general shape of the numeral being highlighted. The number nine, for example, shows a glimpse of an elephant's curled-up trunk, and eight is the negative space of a giraffe's markings. They're not all obvious; careful looking and use of imagination are bonuses, and additional creature facts are appended. Alphabet goes from A to Z, with clean black backgrounds and a word on every page (arrowhead, balloons, yolk, zipper8). From Lolly Robinson's original Magazine review: "Lift the flaps and foreground turns background as pictured images become the negative space defining the letter form...This is great bookmaking, and a snazzy -- though sophisticated -- addition to the alphabet bookshelf." Sturdy flaps; thoughtfully placed and well-sized die cuts; abundant surprises; and visual delights make both of these volumes welcome and artistically elevated concept books. Review covers these fall 2024 titles: Animal Countdown and The Hidden Alphabet.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2024

(2) PS These lift-the-flap books creatively showcase threatened or endangered creatures (Countdown) and the ABCs (Alphabet; a reissue from 2003, rev. 1/04). In Countdown, left-hand pages present a spelled-out number, beginning with ten and counting down to one, on a textured mixed-media background that hints at a habitat. Right-hand pages (which lift up) are matte colors with square or rectangular die-cuts revealing additional glimpses of the scene below -- and in the general shape of the numeral being highlighted. The number nine, for example, shows a glimpse of an elephant's curled-up trunk, and eight is the negative space of a giraffe's markings. They're not all obvious; careful looking and use of imagination are bonuses, and additional creature facts are appended. Alphabet goes from A to Z, with clean black backgrounds and a word on every page (arrowhead, balloons, yolk, zipper8). From Lolly Robinson's original Magazine review: "Lift the flaps and foreground turns background as pictured images become the negative space defining the letter form...This is great bookmaking, and a snazzy -- though sophisticated -- addition to the alphabet bookshelf." Sturdy flaps; thoughtfully placed and well-sized die cuts; abundant surprises; and visual delights make both of these volumes welcome and artistically elevated concept books. Review covers these fall 2024 titles: Animal Countdown and The Hidden Alphabet.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2024

(2) K-3 Ursula is a happy pink catfish who enjoys her life eating bugs, only to be asked one day why she swims upside down. What a strange question! Ursula had thought all fish swam like this, with their bellies turned up to the surface of the water. This query causes her to doubt her viewpoint, and if she might be in the wrong: "Was left right?! Was right wrong?! Which way was even up??" These wonderings rock Ursula's world, quite literally: "Her whole world flipped." And with that (the now much-anticipated "Tabor turn" established in Mel Fell, rev. 3/21, and Simon and the Better Bone, rev. 7/23), readers are instructed to flip the book upside down and turn the pages right to left. Ursula now sees the world as others do and realizes that she is, indeed, upside down. When she encounters a bat, she is shown another point of view, in which upside down is perfectly usual. Ultimately, Ursula decides that she gets to determine what's normal. Tabor's mixed-media illustrations bring levity to the book's more serious message, and the book-flipping and page-turns give readers a tactile, sensory experience of changing perspective. Per a brief author's note, the protagonist is based on an actual species of catfish that swims upside down in the Congo River. Julie

Reviewer: Julie Hakim Azzam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2024

(2) PS “It was a cold, wintry night, / and all through the house, / not a creature was stirring… / except a small mouse!” Ehlert’s (posthumously published) take on “The Night Before Christmas” provides a zoomed-in, mouse’s-eye view, with her trademark geometric illustrations stealing the show. Frequent die-cuts in unexpected configurations enhance delight, with each page-turn bringing a singular surprise. Bold hues include the expected red-and-green palette along with pops of fuchsia here, understated tones there, and the occasional shiny foils. The tall-and-thin vertical orientation makes pages easy to turn and evokes the Christ-mas tree on the cover and at the center of the book.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2023

(2) PS Cleanly designed double-page spreads feature large-size type on the left and simply composed cut-paper and digital illustrations (resembling a child’s craft project) on the right. À la Tullet’s innovative, interactive picture book Press Here (rev. 7/11), listeners are instructed to tap a fir tree composed of overlapping green triangles “to add some lights.” A page-turn shows those lights on the tree. Clap to turn the lights on, knock twice to add ornaments, and so on. Garland, candy canes, and a star tree-topper complete the effect. “Turn the page to turn out the light.” This offering captures the fun of tree decorating.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2023

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Hilli Kushnir. Opening this sturdy-backed gift book reveals nine little books (written in little type) that are candle-shaped and ­removable: one for each night of Hanukkah plus the shamash. The narrative follows young Lena and her family as they sing songs, fry latkes (traditional, sweet potato, and plantain), exchange gifts and perform tzedakah, attend a Hanukkah party at the synagogue, and more. After reading that night’s story, children can flip the candle to its “lit” side, creating a virtual hanukkiah with-out all that pesky wax. Cheery digital-looking illustrations embrace inclusivity.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2023

(2) PS In this funny and satisfying story for the very young, a little girl asks readers, "Have you seen Mister Kitty? He is hiding somewhere inside this book." We are asked to look for him, but whenever we see what appears to be one of Mister Kitty's attributes ("5 yellow spots," "2 green eyes"), a page-turn reveals what the die-cuts were actually hiding (five yellow snakes, two green crocodiles). Each reveal startles the girl's initially trusting dog, who humorously frowns, covers its eyes, or cowers behind the girl's legs. When Mister Kitty is finally found, his identity is a surprise that upends all our expectations ("ROAR!")--and scares the dog off completely. The book's structure is simple but effective, as left-hand pages use a different, single background color while right-hand pages are white, allowing the die-cut colors to pop. When Mister Kitty is found, the pattern changes to a full-bleed double-page spread incorporating all five colors for the happy reunion. "Let's go home, Mister Kitty!"

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2023

(2) PS Translated by Christopher Franceschelli. Like its predecessors Press Here (rev. 7/11) and Mix It Up (rev. 11/14), this offering by Tullet is a creative and enjoyable model of lo-fi interactivity and a lesson in cause-and-effect, here with an additional element of performance. On the first page we are instructed to place our hand atop a blue handprint and "concentrate." The next page is a warm-up: colorful motion lines appear around the handprint as we practice wiggling our fingers. Then "the show" begins with stage-direction-like text: "Circle around the page three times...Whooo! Your fingers happily jump around on all the dots...Here they take little leaps, as light and frisky as a baby goat." The balletic movements result in shapes and patterns that recall Matisse, Haring, and the Lascaux caves, with some room for nonprescriptive creative self-expression. For those who are used to scrolling and swiping, the motions will be familiar; the payoff comes not with pixels but via analog imagination.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2023

(1) K-3 Illustrated by Suzy Lee. "Someday soon, I'll see you. Even though you are there. And I am here. So very far apart. I want to see you now, of course. Right this minute. In a childlike first-person text, a young person describes to a loved one the feeling of missing her and yearning for a reunion, touching on imaginative ways of doing so (rocket ships, jetpacks) along with real-life solutions (sending letters back and forth, video chatting). Lee's warmhearted illustrations--coupled with the book's ingenious design--provide terrific enhancement to the story line. Frequent die-cuts ("used to show how the characters could be physically closer together through the pages"); variations in background colors; ­different-size pages; and changes in font, style, size, and text placement help pace the events and offer literal windows into the characters' feelings of impatience, frustration, longing, and love. One particularly timely--and humorous--image shows the characters not-quite-centered on their respective computer screens. The end of the book brings unadulterated joy in the form of a tightly held, sunshine-y embrace. While this reassuring picture book is particularly apt for the COVID-19 era, it will be welcomed by anyone suffering separation and seeking comfort.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2022

(1) 4-6 Translated by Sara Lissa Paulson. Illustrated by Paloma Valdivia. This lavish volume includes excerpts from Neruda's Libro de las preguntas in the original Spanish alongside new English translations by Paulson. Valdivia's expansive illustrations in a limited, muted palette give readers plenty of space to dwell on each question. The questions themselves, mostly arranged as couplets, have no answers and often imaginative premises: "Who shouted for joy / when the color blue was born?" "Where can you find a bell / that rings inside your dreams?" Frequent gatefolds function as transitions between related illustrations (a peaceful mountain scene becomes a volcanic eruption, with similar changes in the flora and fauna) or as pauses between related questions ("Why do trees hide / the splendor of their roots?" [gatefold] "So, how do roots know / they must rise up to the light?"). Back matter includes notes about the source material and its meaning from the illustrator, editor, and translator. Endlessly perusable--as long as you have the elbow room--the book is perfectly pitched to encourage students to write their own question poems; pair with Kooser and Wanek's equally philosophical Marshmallow Clouds (rev. 3/22).

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2022

(1) PS A striking die-cut paper-over-board cover, vertical orientation (with spine at the top of the book), and adventurous use of white space are only some of the characteristics that make this South Korean import so thrilling. The setting is established through a very brief text on the opening spread. "So much snow. It is starting to snow. I've never seen the snow fall like this. There's so much. So much snow!" From here the book is wordless; Park manipulates viewers' perspectives and expectations through the creative placement of two sweater-clad figures across snow-filled double-page spreads. The pair emerges from their snowed-under chalet and, through a combination of extensive digging and plowing, tunnel their way to the top of the deep snow. Comedy ensues in the form of an escalating snowball fight, along with what appear to be scenes of the duo struggling to push an invisible object across the blank white pages. Subsequent page-turns depict the pair taking a selfie in front of seemingly empty space and hauling a large triangular object up a tall ladder. A vertical gatefold reveals their humorous goal: to create a skyscraper-sized snowman. Park's digital illustrations confidently feature only two colors, yellow and blue; however, the use of nondelineated white to represent both positive space (such as a white snowball partially covering a character) and negative space (snowy backgrounds) in the same scenes creates an exciting visual dissonance that necessitates careful examination and rewards rereading. This boldly graphic picture book is as sophisticated as it is fun...and very cool.

Reviewer: Patrick Gall | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2023

(2) PS Illustrated by Rachel Isadora. This manners book for young children includes the basics, of course, with some more unusual but helpful suggestions, too. Each double-page spread shows a child in a situation that calls for a particular response; a flap on the right-hand page, when opened, provides it: "If I step on someone's foot, I say... [flap opens] 'I'm sorry,'" with the illustration showing a little ballerina apologizing to a large ostrich in ballet shoes. Isadora uses expressive pen-and-ink lines together with watercolors against white backgrounds, with lots of yellow and pink making each page cheery and energetic. The book is neatly square, with thick pages and with flaps that are carefully folded so the pictures line up perfectly. Humor shines throughout, as when a birthday package bounces across the page with what clearly are bunny limbs and ears sticking out. Parents and children alike should appreciate the spread devoted to a very common, if rarely addressed in polite company, situation: "I farted. So I say...'Pardon me.'" A final spread has flaps on both sides, with many of the characters greeting a child and dog arriving home in a striped hot-air balloon, saying, "It's great to see you again!" With lots of opportunities for children to notice things in ­pictures and to make predictions about what happens next, this is both entertaining and useful in helping them learn what’s expected.

Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2021

(2) PS Illustrated by AG Ford. In their second holiday-themed ­outing (Construction Site on Christmas Night, rev. 11/18), the hard-working Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site trucks celebrate in a lift-the-flap book. The rhyming text is full of good cheer, and the richly colored wax oil crayon illustrations feature the smiling trucks decked out festively. On Christmas Eve, the gang gets busy decorating the job site, "each one...planning something great!" Six flaps (one on nearly every spread) reveal the surprises: e.g., with Crane Truck's help, Flat Bed's "load of Christmas cheer" is shown to include (under a flap) "a GIANT Christmas tree." Deliveries of a star, wreath, and presents follow; Cement Mixer and Skid Steer add the final twinkling touches. Rinker and Ford's winning formula captures "TRUE Christmas cheer": "a time to gather, give, and share-- / a season filled with love and care."

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2021

(2) PS In Green (rev. 3/12), author-illustrator Seeger paired a color concept book with an ecological theme, following it some years later with Blue (rev. 9/18), which similarly united a consideration of color with one of emotion. Now she turns to red--sixteen shades of it, from "dark red" to "just red"--to tell the story of a lost fox. The painterly acrylic images and strategic die-cuts immerse viewers in the fox's world and trials, from it trailing the pack to becoming lost to enduring hunger, injury, and capture, until its eventual return to its family. Hues range from the "light red" of sunrise to the "blood red" of an injured paw to the "rage red" of being trapped in a cage. The season is autumn, which allows Seeger the full riot of shades of reds, but the story is an anytime one, the fox a stand-in for anyone going through trouble on the way to security.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2021

(2) PS It's Halloween, and the Very Busy Spider is looking for her friends, and, one by one, from beneath flaps, they each appear. The sky changes from blue to purple to a warm black as the friends are located, and the only actual holiday motif to be found is a carved pumpkin being nibbled upon by, natch, the Very Hungry Caterpillar. Reviewing a foldout board book from a PDF requires a leap of faith, but this one looks like simple, un-scary fun for the youngest Halloweeners.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2020

(3) 4-6 Inside Out series. This intensive look at horse bodies features large, full-color anatomical drawings on each packed page highlighting successive anatomical systems (via die-cuts): muscular, skeletal, nervous, digestive, etc. Bite-sized text blocks and additional photos and drawings explain how horses' anatomy relates to their health and behavior and offer (sometimes loosely connected) topics like "mini whinnies" (miniature horses) or horse body language. Whether it's explaining how tissues in horses' feet act like supplemental hearts pumping blood back up the leg with each step or pointing out that horses are unable to vomit, this immersive, volume feeds enthusiasts' appetites for all things horse.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(2) K-3 Desert-dwelling meerkat Sunny (­Meerkat Mail, rev. 1/08) wants Christmas to be perfect "just like in his magazine"--but with no snow in the Kalahari, he seeks chillier climes. Sunny's voyages take him around the globe, landing in his dream spot "with all the trimmings." But something is missing--or rather a dozen or so someones. An assist from Santa brings Sunny back home just in time for presents. The funny ­juxtapositions--meerkats wearing scarves, for example, and a penguin in the desert--in the watercolor paint and pencil illustrations enhance this zippy, warmhearted tale. Cards (unseen) written by Sunny appear beneath liftable flaps throughout, and endpapers include craft activities with details about desert creatures.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2020