DO CROCS KISS?

“Do snakes laugh?...Do lions snore?...Do toucans burp?” Readers may not find out the answers to these questions, but they sure are fun to ponder in Yoon’s latest lift-the-flap book, which allows kids to test their knowledge of animal sounds.

Eight rhyming verses present readers with exotic animals and allow them to guess the sounds the creatures make before lifting the huge flap that opens the animal’s mouth to reveal the answer. “Do monkeys fight? / Do monkeys agree? / All I know is / monkeys go… // OOH-OOH! EEE-EEE!” Publishing simultaneously is the farmyard-focused Do Cows Meow? Both are plagued by the same problems. Not all the animals fit the theme, and two of the jungle animals are not vocalizing sounds, “chomp[ing]” or “snap[ping]” instead. A few of the rhymes miss the mark ("point" with "oink"), and the playful tone of the questions is not carried throughout; “Do ducks cluck?” falls flat when compared to the sheer silliness of frogs knitting and sheep tangoing. The biggest strengths are the sturdiness of the large, well-connected flaps and the visual presentation. Text is on the left against bright tone-on-tone polka-dot backgrounds; the animals’ faces are on the right. Details are kept simple, highlighting each animal’s identifying features. A final double gatefold hides all the creatures and their sounds in one scene.

This is a favorite toddler topic, high on kid appeal. (Board book. 1-3)