LARGE AS LIFE

In each double spread in this large, square book, a minimal text challenges readers to find a ladybug hidden on or near increasingly larger animals shown life-size—even an elephant's foot and a whale's eye. A final spread shows all the animals together, drawn to scale; it takes an extra two pages to accommodate the whale, and the ladybug is now too small to see. Finzel's well-designed paintings are bold and dramatic; the hunt is entertaining, especially when the ladybug turns up among the crocodile's teeth; best, the concept of relative size is conveyed with astonishing simplicity and power. (Picture book. 3-7)