GETTING DRESSED
by Pauline Oud ; illustrated by Pauline Oud
Young children select seasonally appropriate clothing in this lift-the-flap board book. With both written and illustrated context clues, readers are encouraged to predict what clothes the depicted children will wear. Each layout features several different pieces of clothing and accessories along with a flap on which a child looks out the window, ready to get dressed. The window scene gives clues about the weather outside, and beneath the flap, the fully clothed child enjoys the outdoors. Oud introduces weather, seasons, clothing, colors, and, perhaps most skillfully, she naturally encourages young readers to make predictions about the story. All of the seasons include specific text about each outdoor activity except for summer. This means that readers might think a dress, for example, is an appropriate choice until they see that Mika is swimming. Oud’s figures are boldly outlined in black with soft colors. The pale pastel palette ties each layout together into a cohesive whole, culminating in a group birthday party. Rafi’s walk through the rain shows movement in the splashed puddle droplets, his windblown hair, and a flick of his dog’s tail. There are lovely details in the print on the bathing suits and the plaid of the dress shirt. Each child is drawn with different colored skin, from Tom’s dark brown to Liv’s peach tones. Sweet illustrations and efficient text deftly reinforce early learning concepts. (Board book. 18 mos.-2)