A playful lift-the-flap read-aloud encourages children to chime in.
“I say dog, you say...” reads the predictable text, encouraging youngsters to fill in the blank and make each animal’s signature sound—“WOOF!” in this case—once the flap is open. A mother or father animal is featured in its habitat, and under the flap, which opens up, down or to the right, multiple offspring cavort and make their iconic sound. The final spread encourages a boisterous review of all the animals’ noises that have come before. Carpenter’s doe-eyed animal caricatures are goofy, inviting and easily recognizable in the double-page spreads. Quirky moments, such as calves dancing to a boombox and a frog doing the backstroke, add to the fun of the inevitable repeat readings. The corners of the flaps are rounded for little fingers, but this thoughtful feature is inexplicably missing from the regular pages and the cover. The gatefold flaps are sturdy, as are the glossy card-stock pages.
With bold, active art and a noise-inducing, interactive text, this offering, part of the I Say, You Say series, will work for both group and one-on-one read-alouds. (Picture book. 18 mos.-3)
