Review by Booklist Review
Page after page of flying, jumping, marching, parading, and moseying animals challenge readers to spot the one among them doing something ever-so-slightly different than the others. Somewhere between all the double-humped camels is a cousin with a single hump. One of the monkeys leaping by has taken a fall and wound up with an arm and a knee wrapped in bandages. A lone caterpillar admires the gorgeous rainbow array of butterflies streaking past. Accompanying each illustration, packed end to end with friendly animals, is a short rhyming verse that tells you who to look for, and each picture has its own tone-defining color scheme and design concept, keeping the experience fresh with each turn of the page. Little eyes will be very eager to spot each hidden figure and will find an appropriate level of challenge doing it (except, perhaps, when they have to gaze into 1,000 hypnotic pairs of lemur eyes). Whether they're sharing this in one-on-one reading time or as a fun group activity, young animal lovers will be fully engaged.--Karp, Jesse Copyright 2014 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Teckentrup, creator of hide-and-seek books like Animal 123 and Animal Spots and Stripes, asks readers to scan pleasingly patterned images for an "odd one out." More than 50 pandas tumble across a page, for instance, all but one clutching a stick: "In among all of/ this hullaballoo,/ which panda has lost/ its shoot of bamboo?" Identically posed two-hump camels stand in five measured rows: "Can you see a camel/ with just one bump?" Teckentrup's mod block-print graphics, reminiscent of Laura Ljungkvist's stylized work, present dizzying crowds of creatures-seals, lemurs, penguins, and butterflies among them. If the pictures are altogether charming, inconsistent verb agreement mars the poems; although "A large group of tortoises/ passes on by" and "a cloud of bats/ comes out looking for fun," a "dazzling shoal of fish/ under the sea/ are keeping a secret" and "A cartload of monkeys/ spin around and around." Readers will solve some puzzles handily, while other games pose a comparative challenge, making these visuals compelling through several rounds of play. Ages 2-5. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-A fun seek-and-find book featuring animals of all kinds. The mixed-media illustrations are reminiscent of the illustrator's Animal 123 and Animal Spots and Stripes (both Chronicle, 2012). Each tessellation has one variant for readers to find: a turtle in his shell, a bird with a worm. Each puzzle is challenging but not to the point of frustration. The brief rhyming text is well paced, making it easy to read aloud, though this will be a one-on-one share rather than a group read. There are many picture puzzle books available, but this one stands apart because of its whimsical illustrations and well-written rhyming clues.-Laura Stanfield, Campbell County Public Library, Ft. Thomas, KY (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Rhyming text asks which animal doesn't match the rest in its group--the one bat that's asleep, the one turtle inside its shell, etc. Teckentrup's mesmerizing mixed-media art contains repeating patterns of animals, which makes finding the odd one out a challenge. Despite a couple of bumpy rhymes (and pandas whose "white as snow" bellies are actually gray), this book is solidly entertaining. (c) Copyright 2014. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
In this classic take on a hunt for the odd one out, Teckentrup creates elegant Escher-like wallpapers of prints depicting a varied selection of interesting animals. Creatures depicted include bats, camels, seals, tortoises, ostriches, pandas, rhinos, monkeys, flamingos, fish, lemurs, penguins and butterflies. Rhyming verses on the left-hand page of each spread challenge readers to spot the difference in the full-page repeating patterns of animal prints on each right-hand page. The final spread conceals a new animal among all the by-now familiar ones. Subtle coloration and textures and thoughtfully chosen background colors give the pages a hand-printed feel, in spite of the repetitive nature of the illustrations. Trying to spot the odd one out will keep children busy for quite a while, as some of the puzzles are hard to spot. (Even grown-ups may have a hard time finding the "silly lemur" looking at his own nose!) The wallpaper-pattern format determines the size of the illustrations, thus limiting readership to individuals or smaller groups. Although the verses tend toward doggerel rather than fine poetry, and are at times grammatically questionable, the very young and their adult readers will improve their differentiation skills while having fun spotting the odd ones out. (Picture book. 2-5)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
