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SEASONS by Philip Giordano Kirkus Star

SEASONS

From the Turn Seek Find series

by Philip Giordano ; illustrated by Philip Giordano

Pub Date: Feb. 5th, 2019
ISBN: 978-2-40800-789-8
Publisher: Twirl/Chronicle

In a seasonal round, crowds of bright flora and fauna ingeniously constructed from geometric forms pose playful challenges in shape and color recognition.

Two sturdy, toothed wheels turning under die-cut windows on either the right or the left of each big spread are the engines that drive this entry in the Turn Seek Find series. They invite viewers to choose one of four grayscale figures—a robin (this is a French import), a fir tree, a squirrel, or a snowflake in “Winter,” for instance—and one of four colors and then to spot the selection amid a seasonally themed riot of stylized shapes and saturated hues. Along with using evocative color schemes for the four seasons, Giordano fits his semi-abstract figures and their compositions together in such harmonious ways that the seek-and-find game may well take a back seat to the simple pleasures of just poring over each scene, letting lines and transitions guide exploratory eyes to fresh discoveries, seeing the plants and animals (there are many more than the quartet offered on each wheel), and basking in the golden glow of “ Fall” or shivering deliciously in the chilly blues of “Winter.” Still, the game is absorbing too, and it’s capped at the end with elements of the previous pictures recast in a joyous whirl of “All Year Round,” with apples, flies, clover, and frogs to spot. “Hooray, you found them! Now turn the wheels to play again!” The invitation will find no lack of takers.

High marks for concept, art, design, and sheer visual energy.

(Novelty board book. 3-5)