RAINBOW CHAMELEON

Leon the chameleon camouflages himself to escape from various predators as he searches for his friend Carmen.

As readers pull tabs on several of the pages, a snake, a wolf and a crocodile appear. The action also causes Leon, whose body is a die-cut hole, to cleverly change color to match his surroundings with a sliding panel that slots the background hue and pattern into place, with only Leon’s yellow eye still visible. When Leon calls out to Carmen and expresses his love for her, the object of his affection blushes to a bright shade of pink (even though the text claims she turns red) so he can spot her. The duo finds a rainbow and plays the “rainbow colors game,” each changing to match the shades of the spectrum, which is effected with a spin dial. The cleverest moment occurs on the back cover when a chameleon develops vertical, black stripes to match the barcode. The simple, repetitive text clearly explains the action. While the pull-tabs and spin dials work smoothly when new, they are not likely to survive robust play since the pages are thinner-than-normal board-book stock.

For as long as they last, the amusing gimmicks serve this clever and colorful tale well.