FUN AT THE FAIR

This diminutive board book presents the delights to be found at a fair.

Tiny in both size and number of pages—just five double-page spreads—this will fit wee hands easily and will be easy to manipulate. The thick die-cut pages stack from smallest to largest, each page die cut to resemble the object it represents: a merry-go-round on recto and popcorn truck on its verso; an old fashioned train; a roller coaster; bumper cars; swings; assorted carnival games, and finally a Ferris wheel. While the saturated colors of the illustrations and the tactile book format will be appealing to the littlest readers, the limited, unattributed text is uninspired and flat: “Welcome to the fun fair! / Where the roller coaster goes up then down. / The bumper cars spin and zoom. / The swings swish and twirl. / And the Ferris wheel goes round and round. There’s so much fun to be had at the fair!” It’s a pity the text can’t rise to the level of excitement it promises fairgoers. The colorful and stylized illustrations portray a large number of people—equally divided between bright-pink and brown skin tones.

Little hands will enjoy holding this small, chunky book; adult readers can supply their own text.