THE ODD ONE OUT

In this classic take on a hunt for the odd one out, Teckentrup creates elegant Escher-like wallpapers of prints depicting a varied selection of interesting animals.

Creatures depicted include bats, camels, seals, tortoises, ostriches, pandas, rhinos, monkeys, flamingos, fish, lemurs, penguins and butterflies. Rhyming verses on the left-hand page of each spread challenge readers to spot the difference in the full-page repeating patterns of animal prints on each right-hand page. The final spread conceals a new animal among all the by-now familiar ones. Subtle coloration and textures and thoughtfully chosen background colors give the pages a hand-printed feel, in spite of the repetitive nature of the illustrations. Trying to spot the odd one out will keep children busy for quite a while, as some of the puzzles are hard to spot. (Even grown-ups may have a hard time finding the “silly lemur” looking at his own nose!) The wallpaper-pattern format determines the size of the illustrations, thus limiting readership to individuals or smaller groups.

Although the verses tend toward doggerel rather than fine poetry, and are at times grammatically questionable, the very young and their adult readers will improve their differentiation skills while having fun spotting the odd ones out.