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MAISY'S HOUSE by Lucy Cousins

MAISY'S HOUSE

by Lucy Cousins ; illustrated by Lucy Cousins

Pub Date: Sept. 4th, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5362-0378-3
Publisher: Candlewick

Punch-out figures let children play house with Maisy and her friend Tallulah.

What a life! Maisy rises in the morning, gets dressed, has breakfast, paints a picture, and then bakes cupcakes: “Yum, yum! It’s so much fun at Maisy’s house!” Foldouts in the final spread act as walls and floor of a dining room and allow the book to be propped up to make a small playscape. The accompanying sheet of punch-outs is sparse but at least includes a table, along with a plate of cupcakes and a pair of friends to eat them. Oddly, some of the loose pieces are not fully decorated on both sides. There is no cautionary note either, and as the detachable parts are just the right size to end up in toddlers’ mouths, this playscape is best left to preschoolers, whose hands may be a bit too big to comfortably maneuver within it. However, considering that new copies of the bigger, more-elaborate, better-furnished likes of Maisy’s House Playset (1995) or Maisy’s House and Garden Pop-Up Play Set (2008) are long unavailable, even reworked Maisy may be better than none at all.

The small parts will vanish, but the rest is sturdy enough to endure multiple passes.

(Novelty. 3-5)