Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Read, Read, Read, said the Baby: My book of opposites by Britta Teckentrup

I adore Britta Teckentrup's colorful artwork and was delighted to find she had two new board books out with Tiger Tales; My book of opposites and My book of counting. I'm looking at Opposites today.

Each page has a contrasting pair of animals. The first spread is covered by an elephant, twining his truck through the word "Big" while a tiny bee buzzes next to the word "small." Monkeys and a butterfly are loud and quiet, a yak and a snake are hairy and smooth, a giraffe and iguana are tall and short, laid out vertically. A hippo holds the O of "Open" in his mouth, while a crocodile dangles "Closed" from his mouth by the d. Then the pictures get more fanciful with a car full of giraffes zipping "Fast" past a "slow" turtle. The book flips vertically again to show a stack up "High" with birds perched on it and a cat at the very top. Watching the rescue operation from below, is a "low" penguin. White and black feature cats, zebras, a polar bear, an owl and more, all including black, white, both, or gray. A lion who is "out" pensively looks over his shoulder at a car crammed full of cats who are "in". On the final page, a boat of dry animals contrasts with the wet animals in the water with "wet" and "dry" sprinkled all over the page.

Teckentrup's illustrations are as adorable and fresh as ever, with light touches of humor for older readers and parents and brightly colored animals and backgrounds for delighted toddlers to enjoy. The book is a large rectangle, 8.5 x 7 inches, which makes it easy to turn for the vertical pages.

Verdict: Perfect for one-on-one reading or toddler storytime. This is a fun and fresh opposites book that will be sure to be popular. Highly recommended.

ISBN: 9781589255869; Published 2014 by Tiger Tales; Purchased for the library

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