FURRY FRIENDS

An oversized book distinguished by SAMi’s trademark clean design and use of die-cuts encourages toddlers to examine small differences in facial features and expressions. On the left, a blank white face confronts readers; on the right, a cat looks out. Turn the page, and the die-cut layers a dog’s snout and ears over the blank face on the left and reveals the circle that backgrounded the cat’s tan-colored face, with only green-dot eyes and a black-dot nose and the text, “How is this face different from the dog’s face?” The differences are subtle, but interesting to explore—expressions, colors and number of features change, creating many avenues for conversation between grown-up and toddler as well as providing basic animal-identification opportunities. (18-36 mos.)