Deck The Walls! The Crayons Christmas by Drew Daywalt

One snowy December Day, Duncan was making Christmas cards with his crayons.

The mailman rings with a Christmas card, but it's not for Duncan. It's from Mom and it's for her favorite crayon, Peachie Pie, with some snazzy punch-out dresses for Peachie to try on.

What's going on? It's a snow storm of Christmas cards to all his crayons-- perfectly browned cookies for Beige Crayon, a banana for change of pace for a snowman's nose just for Yellow Crayon, a box of bright-colored punch-out ornaments for the Christmas tree, a Hanukkah card with a dreidel for Gray Crayon, and one addressed to TODDLER CRAYON in big letters.

There is even a surprise pop-up Christmas tree, in Drew Daywalt's holiday gift to their young fans, The Crayons' Christmas (Penguin Workshop, 2019), offering young readers the fun of opening a Christmas card on each page, with real letters and games inside for kids to open and enjoy. It's a delightful holiday toy-and-movable book, with the familiar drawings of noted artist Oliver Jeffers, done (of course) in crayon. This one is a special gift for fans that comes already "wrapped" for Christmas giving.

What Can It Be? Bee--A Peek-Through Picture Book by Britta Teckentrup

Dawn is breaking on a brilliant new day.
And in the meadow, poppies sway.

A bee appears, striped black and gold.
Wonder what nature is about to unfold?

The busy bee is indeed at the center of this spring poem, as shown in the die-cut cover of the book itself. The hexagonal, honeycomb-shaped cutout grows progressively smaller on each page, with the hard-working bee always the center of attention as she works her magic with each of the spring blooms.

It's a mutual rewards thing down in the meadow. Bee takes nectar, but also carries pollen to fertilize the flowers that provide the fruit and seeds for the growth cycle.

Among the orchard's apple trees,
Blossoms quiver in the breeze.

Carrying pollens from plant to place,
Bee always leaves a tiny trace.

In her spring-themed Bee: A Peek-Through Picture Book (Doubleday Books, 2016), Britta Teckentrup's attractive toy-and-movable-book comes along just in time for those spring units on beneficial insects and the life cycle of the plant in which bees play such a vital role. Teckentrup's flowing, rhyming couplets provide the actual lesson in pollination, and her lovely illustrations of the lively setting for bee's busy day, flying on to ply her trade among the apple blossoms and the daisies, keep the story moving in this book that is tailor-made for classroom readalouds and browsing. Says School Library Journal, " ... this book is well suited for an introductory look at pollinators."

Keep Away? Don't Touch This Book! by Bill Cotter

I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE THINKING: THIS IS A PRETTY COOL-LOOKING BOOK. BUT....

DON'T TOUCH THIS BOOK! (Don't even try it, bub.)

It's Larry, the big purple monster with the little green horns, and you know he doesn't mean it. He's dying for you to join him in playing with his new book!

Now that he's got your attention, he relents, making a big deal out of his first caveat. He opens his shiny yellow book (with his picture on the front, as he hastens to point out, and turns to a page with not much on it.

TELL YOU WHAT. YOU CAN USE JUST ONE FINGER.

Now that Larry has your full attention, he orders you to drag one finger down the page.

YOU MADE BLUE!

Now you're hooked, and you're off! Before you know it, the pages are turning and you are spinning, swooshing, roaring, flapping, and floating with Larry in a space suit. Yowza! How did this happen!

As he did in his 2013 hit, Don't Push the Button! (see review here), Bill Cotter lets his alter ego Larry take young readers on an interactive, between-the-covers adventure in his newest, Don't Touch This Book! (Sourcebooks/Jabberwocky, 2016). With those big, bold, and bright colors and free-form shapes, even the very young will not be able to resist touching and tracing their way as Larry directs them through the book. Graduates of Cotter's books should also try Herve' Tullett's even more delightful and best-selling adventures, Press Here and Let's Play!

"Dino ID: Dinoblock by Christopher Franceschelli

I HAVE A NECK LIKE A GOOSE. I AM A COELOPHYSIS.

I AM SMALL LIKE A CHICKEN.

I AM A MICRORAPTOR.

Inside a thick square board book, young readers encounter a four-page gatefold, opening to welcome them inside the Museum, with exhibits divided into three sections, Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous.

The first two-page spread is die-cut into the curving lines of a goose's neck, repeated in the lines of the long-necked colelophysis swimming in a primeval sea. Each successive recto page has a cut shape which suggests the outlines of the next dinosaur on the following double-page spread.

I STRETCH LONGER THAN THE LADDER OF A FIRE TRUCK.

I AM A BRACHIOSAURUS.

Familiar dinos like the Tyrannosaurus Rex and rarer ones like the burrowing Oryctodromeus or the chicken-sized Microraptors fill the sturdy pages with over twenty dinosaurs, concluding with the intimidatingly-named Micropachycephalosaurus! A thumbnail-illustrated dinosaur micro-glossary is appended with descriptions of each dino.

Christopher Franceschelli's Dinoblock (Alphablock) (Abrams Appleseed Books, 2015) is a fine board book for the youngest which teaches both common animals and other objects while introducing a variety of dinosaurs. Suitable for small hands, this book has quite the staying power, with rare dinos with complex names to be mastered by older readers.  As Publishers Weekly points out in their starred review, "Less-common dinosaurs are many, and phonetic pronunciations are provided throughout—helpful when getting acquainted with oryctodromeus, euoplocephalus, and micropachycephalosaurus."

Previous books by Chris Franceschelli are Alphablock and Countablock (Alphablock).

Pressing On: Tap to Play by Salina Yoon

TAP ME TWICE AND SHOUT "BLIP!!"

OUCH!! NOT SO HARD!

Blip, a little gamester with googly eyes, a cowlick and stick legs, needs some help getting to a blue bar (with numbers 5-4-3-2-1) on the other side of the page.  Who could resist helping out such a charming little guy!

In Salina Yoon's Tap to Play! (Balzer and Bray, 2014), Blip needs quite a bit of help--shaking the book to help him bounce, (Warning! I bleep under stress!), turning the book to slide him toward the corner, even huffing and puffing to blow Blip up, tilting the book to slip him into position for the final reward, a door with someone interesting on the other side.

KNOCK TO PLAY!

Since the publication of Herve' Tullet's highly original Press Here (Chronicle Books, 2011), there has been a mini-tsunami of picture books turning virtual experience on its head, playing with the idea of video gaming, a sort of art imitating nature (in the form of game apps), that has produced assorted sorties into the creation of story pages that act like touch screen electronic games, substituting the page turn for screen animation. Yoon's newest has an appealing little character whose goal is to game his way into finding a friend, with a touch of on-page slapstick that may appeal to the younger user. The fun of his back talk as Blip gets shaken, tapped, and tickled into success will get some readers across the finish line to Game Over.

For a taste of the anti-virtual metabook format, read reviews of other such popular books here.

Color Crunch! Mix It Up by Herve' Tullet

IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN. ARE YOU READY?

TAP THAT LITTLE GREY SPOT JUST A LITTLE. WHAT HAPPENS?

Herve' Tullet is back with another brain stretching "interactive book," this time devoted to the basics of colors--primary, secondary, and tertiary. With dots of paint so real-looking--wet and shiny--that you expect your finger tip to be colored as you follow the creator's directions,

Tullet takes youngsters through what happens when they combine blobs of blue and yellow and red, producing such realistic results with each page turn that they seem to be occurring for real! Tullet advances through the secondary colors--orange, green, and purple-- and proceeds into mixing in white or black to create hues and shades--white and red becomes pink in a wink of a page turn. Want to see?  OK!

Tullet tells the reader to close the book and smoosh the runny colors on a double page spread, and then tempts speculation as he asks readers to predict what will happen. What happens when you give the book a shake and turn the page? Look and see!

Although this book is aimed toward preschoolers learning the science and art of colors, the faux interactive aspect will have even older kids and adults drawn into the fun, shaking and squishing the book on cue. And it's going to be hard not to break out some paints and play with the knowledge Tullet imparts as soon as he bids readers goodbye.

YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN. LOOK! PLAY!

And Mix It Up!  they will, as author-illustrator Herve' Tullet invites them to do in his 2014 innovative virtual art lesson without the mess for Chronicle Books. As he does in his brilliant and best-selling Press Here and Help! We Need a Title! (read reviews here), Tullet joins other author-illustrators, such as Mo Willems, Kathryn Otoshi, Bill Cotter, and Alex Lluch, who have taken on the challenge of electronic storytelling to show that there's a lot of possibilities going on yet between the covers of the classic picture book. "Rivaling an iPad for its sheer fun and interactive elements," is the way School Library Journal describes Tullet's latest in their starred rave review.

Turn, Turn, Turn: Pinwheel by Salina Yoon

SPARKLING, SPINNING,

LIGHTS FREEWHEELING.

Although the actual pyrotechnics are reserved for the ending, the artistic fireworks of Salina Yoon's fresh and fascinating new book, Pinwheel (Little, Brown, 2013), go off with each turn of the page and turn of the wheel which set her designs into motion.

A companion book to her 2012 tour de force, Kaleidoscope, Yoon here gives the young reader a spare but poetic text to accompany her dazzling design features which transform the grill of a train, a flower in the field, a bee, a butterfly, and a hot air balloon into a constantly changing image.

A sunflower's center rotates kaleidoscopically. A colorful kite soars up and up, right off the page and above the book.  A butterfly's wings transform  the design coloration into many sorts of butterflies, and a hot air balloon changes as it rises, leading into a finale of starbursts from rainbow sky rockets.

All of these wonders are contained with a small but bright board book format in which every page opens up a different scene under the control of the reader.   The award-winning Salina Yoon continues to break new ground with her ingenious interactive picture books with this new one, a delight for the eye altogether! Publishers Weekly adds its own star for this one, calling it a "winning combination of lyrical writing and smart interactive design."

Whatchamacallit? I Am Blop! by Herve' Tullet

BLACK BLOP

WHITE BLOP

 !POLB REVOCSID

BLOP is a blob--a four-lobed blob, a shape that can be almost anything the mind can imagine--a flower, a cloud, a butterfly, a Blop family, a classroom of blops in neat rows, what-ever-you-want blops.

Herve' Tullet's latest, I am Blop! (Phaidon, 2013) explores what can be done with a faithful shape like the blop. Blue blop teaches colors with an acetate overlap of yellow which yields a green blop which works both ways, forward and back. Pink and purple overlays play with a touch of red.

There are blops with faces, blops becoming animals, broken blops, measled blops, even invisible blops, blops as famous paintings, blops seen on a mirrored page. There are fill-in-the-blank blops and even punch-out blops that kids can take away to put into their own blop stories.

Herve' Tullet's books play with the very idea of the book, extending the two-dimensional page into the non-dimensional world of the imagination, as he did in in his 2011 best-seller Press Here (see my review here) and his equally imaginative The Book with a Hole. Tullet's little books have broken new ground--genre-breaking, interactive books with deceptively simple art on traditional white pages which nevertheless become interactive when mixed with the imagination of the child.  This one is no exception.

 Publishers Weekly puts in "... even the format is a novelty," and Kirkus Reviews quips "Tullet will intrigue children and encourage them to think outside the blop."

I Can See Clearly Now...! Arlo Needs Glasses by Barney Saltzberg

ONE DAY ARLO COULDN'T PLAY CATCH ANY MORE.

EVERY TIME I THREW THE BALL....

IT BOPPED HIM ON THE NOSE!

Arlo and his owner have a problem! This pooch can't seem to follow the ball! It flies right by him, zooms over him, or bonks him on the snoot every time. Arlo has somehow lost his edge.

So it's off to the doggy eye doctor for Arlo, where he tries to read the fuzzy eye chart. Yep, Arlo's vision needs a little help all right. The doc peers into his eyes and then rolls out his phoropter to see what sort of correction Arlo needs. Then it's off to try out some cool canine frame styles--mad scientist, Hollywood superstar, or superhero?

None of the above. Arlo sniffs out the top-doggiest style of all, with cute little bone-cutout accents, and soon he's playing catch with the best of the canines again.

As author-illustrator Barry Saltzberg walks the reader through the eye exam process, the fun is in the clever, cleverer, and cleverest design aspects of his brand-new Arlo Needs Glasses (Workman, 2012). In sturdy board-book format, Saltzman offers charming pastel illustrations of Arlo, with pull-tabs, fold outs, pop-ups and other movable, hands-on delights on almost every page. Kids can use a pull-tab to reveal the blurry, Arlo's-eye-view version of the eyechart as Arlo sees it, peer through the accordion-foldout phoropter to read ARLO NEEDS GLASSES!, pop up Arlo's head upon which to try out the open-up doggy glasses, which they can pull from their colorful "cases" and place on Arlo's face to see how he looks in each. It's a book which begs to be played with, just like Arlo!

Kids who don't even need glasses will want to wear Arlo's movie star or superhero styles, and kids who do will see the whole eye exam process in a new light after sharing with the awesome Arlo!

Bare Bear: Bear in Underwear by Todd H Doodler

Bear is hiding, but his friends are not seeking--at least no one comes to find him. Bear's mind turns to dinner, and with visions of ice cream and hot dogs in his head, his jog home is interrupted when he trips over a nice backpack on the trail. With food on his mind, Bear just picks it up and carries it along home, where it seems all his friends are waiting for him.

WOW! WHERE DID YOU FIND THAT BACKPACK? OPEN IT!

Cautiously, Bear opens the pack and pulls out---UNDERWEAR! All kinds--bloomers, boxers, briefs, in dots, stripes, blue and pink, big and snug. At the urging of his friends, Bear begins to try them on. Some are baggy, some are silly, and one pair is so tight that Bear's eyes begin to bulge! and finally hits upon a svelte pair of tightey-whiteys just his style. His buddies are pleased.

SWEET! WOW! AWESOME! DY-NO-MITE

Todd Doodler's new Bear In Underwear (Blue Apple Books, 2010) is a real rib-tickler for kids of the age that finds the very word "underwear" hilarious. The clever cover, with Bear in real fabric tightey-whiteys, is sure to get this one going, and the funny remarks (done in snappy speech balloons) by his animal friends as the style show progresses and the giggle-provoking drawings of Bear in the wardrobe of underwear styles will keep the laughs coming all the way to the end.

Other undie-lit choices are Doodler's companion piece, Bear in Pink Underwear, and those other lingerie-lit favorites, Aliens Love Underpants, Dinosaurs Love Underpants, and Aliens in Underpants Save the World.

Fitting In With Your Friends: Big Frog Can't Fit In: A Pop-Out Book by Mo Willems

POOR BIG FROG.

SHE CAN'T FIT IN THIS BOOK.

IF ONLY SHE WERE SMALLER. . .

OR MORE . . .BENDABLE!

Squished into the shape of a pretzel, poor Big Frog clearly needs some help from her friends.

The little frogs try to make her smaller by shortening her legs by way of a pull tab, which simultaneously reduces her long legs and puts a happy smile on her face. Still that's not quite enough to keep some of her gangly parts from popping out of the book when it's closed. Still she longs to "fit in" with her friends.

Well, if they can't make her smaller, the friends figure, there's only one thing to do. And they find a way to help Big Frog find her true ex-pression!

MAKE A BIGGER BOOK!

YAY, FRIENDS!

Multiple award-winner Mo Willems and paper engineer Bruce Foster push the toy and movable book genre to new limits in their new Big Frog Can't Fit In: A pop-out book, wonder of design which combines clever folding, pop-ups and pop-outs, flaps, tabs, and crafty page layouts to take the art of the picture book a big, er, leap, um, hop forward (and backward and to each side actually) in this wonderfully creative collaboration which s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-s this format beyond its between-covers-limits. At a time when ebook variations are expanding the limits of the traditional book in their own direction, Willems is one of the most inventive author/artists currently working in the field, and this offering shows his willingness to expand the concept of the book in novel, tactile directions.