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Originally published in Belgium and Holland, this English-translated board book is labeled for toddlers ages 30 months and up.
While children search for specific animals on each double-page spread, they learn about prepositions: “Who is sitting underneath the turtle?
Who is going back home to get an umbrella?
Who is ready to go to a dance?” With careful inspection, readers can see which ladybugs and which turtles stand out from the group. Only one of the four turtles and one of the approximately sixty ladybugs are wearing party hats.
After an adult explains the difference between on top and underneath and forward and backward, children will be able to spot the ladybug hiding under the turtle as well as the ladybug heading back home.
This book is nowhere near as jam-packed with illustrations as a Where’s Waldo book, but it does take some time and attention to detail to find the correct animals because the differences are small (a tiny pair of high heels, a cheek that is redder than the others) and the animals all look very similar.
Bats and a moon are used to demonstrate “across,” bees and a sunflower are used to show the preposition “over,” and snails and a brick wall reveal the meaning of “behind.” The one question that repeats itself in every scenario (Who is ready to go to the dance?) ties the storyline together.
At the end of the book, the animals that were going to the dance can be seen dancing around a disco ball. It’s not stated on the page, but parents could review the prepositions by asking their children to point to the animal dancing underneath the disco ball or between the lights.
The illustrations are a mixture of black-and-white pencil sketches, bright colors and line patterns. Although the book is larger than most board books, it would work best when shared one-on-one or with a group of three to four children. Pair this book with van Genechten’s Big and Small to learn about size and opposites.
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In, Out and All Around (Odd One Out)