IN THE COUNTRY

In this interactive countryside stroll, practically every rock, bush, cloud or tuft of leaves on each topical spread is a single or multilayered flap, beneath which lurks a common, simply drawn animal or plant, captioned by a morsel of natural history. Some of the facts are dramatically simplified—pigeons “love to eat stale bread”—and some flaps are so poorly attached that it wouldn’t be amiss to package this with a glue stick. Still, there’s enough content here to pay repeat visits, and, enhanced by the occasional pull tab, paper wheel or other special effect for variety, the dozens of acts of discovery that this encourages could well turn “Spot” or “Maisy” junkies into budding naturalists. (Picture book. 5-7)