Friday, November 1, 2019

Review: Turnabout Shapes by Agnes Baruzzi

9789888341825
$11.99

In this clever book of die-cut shapes, you can see how a watermelon changes into a bird’s beak—or how a tulip becomes a mermaid’s tail. The pages connect to each other not only with their die-cut holes but also with zippy, rhyming text that makes for loads of fun. Filled with colorful art, this is a book that’s pleasing to the eyes, the ears, and the fingers.

I have reviewed and enjoyed Baruzzi's books before, and one even became a Cybils finalist. Unfortunately, this one came as a disappointment.

The text is extremely small for a board book, with choppy rhymes and in unrelated pairings. It seemed very forced in areas. The pictures are cute, but there is a lot of dead space that could be confusing. Generally in peek-through books like this, the area you can see on the next page is part of the next picture: instead, here you see through to a solid or patterned page, with the next picture on the opposing side. I'm afraid this one just isn't as attractive or kid-pleasing as her previous titles, although the high quality of the binding and color is the same.

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