SIMMS TABACK’S BIG BOOK OF WORDS

Caldecott Medal–winner Taback wields a strong black line and vibrating color on each of these pages, where an object sits on a plain white background. The four sections—playthings, clothing, food, and animals—appeal to the deepest interests of the toddler set. Each page has but one word (or, very occasionally, a phrase like “pail and shovel” or “peanut butter and jelly”) and its image. There’s no forgetting that Taback is an artist. Probably no real teddy bear ever wore such a bow tie with his striped pants and backwards baseball cap, and no real child ever wore a shirt of such delirious black and orange plaid. But no matter, the eye-popping colors only serve to identify the object—hot-pink pockets on the turquoise jeans, yellow, green, and red keys on a blue chain, a positively psychedelic red tomato. The only misstep is the telephone, a black number with a dial and a cord that children may not recognize at all. (Picture book. 3-6)