Opposite Surprise by Agnese Baruzzi Ages 1-4 30 pages minedition April 2017 Board book     The pages in this glossy board book about opposites fold out like an accordion. Opening each page transforms the illustration into its opposite. Pairs of opposites appear on the page beside the illustrations. Small or big? is printed on a bright yellow page. The illustration next to it shows a small blue truck. But when the page is pulled open, the blue truck becomes part of a big truck capable of carrying a crane. On the following page, one sheep becomes one of many, and a seemingly empty aquarium becomes full of fish when the flap pulled open. Other opposites include short and long, straight and curvy, and hot and cold. The most surprising transformation shows the difference between slow (turtle) and fast (jet). Plain backgrounds emphasize the words and artwork. After I read this for Toddler Time at the public library, a young reader took it from my hands and sat down and read it themselves by looking at the pictures and opening the pages. Sometimes they didn’t get the correct word (i.e. ‘small’ was said instead of ‘short’), but I took the opportunity to explain their similarities.     web reviews   Tanya Boudreau/2017 for curled up with a good kid's book   For grown-up fiction, nonfiction and speculative fiction book reviews, visit our sister site Curled Up With a Good Book (www.curledup.com)