What's this, what's this? It's got a little ape. What's this? It's such a funny shape!
OK I won't completely ruin anyone else's memories of the excellent songs in "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and will get down to the knotty business of reviewing "It's a Little Book" - the new board-book version of Lane Smith's much celebrated "It's a Book".
Remixed for teeny toddlers (but still hugely entertaining for older kids - and adults of course!) Lane Smith's wry humour and sometimes quite aloof look at books is very good fun.
Donkey (or should that be Jackass?) and Ape find a funny object lying around and wonder what it is. How does it work? Does it need to be plugged into the internet? Is it perhaps a sunhat?
A bit of googling (jarring use of the word 'google' in the book btw) soon enlightens the pair, and they begin a voyage of discovery into the world of beautiful books!
The visual style of the book (with its muted palette) is attractive, with great appeal across a broad spectrum. In this board-based format, it's great when you've got toddlers you can bounce on your knee and explore the book with. Even for Charlotte, usually fairly aloof about 'baby books' it was entertaining and she loved the characters.
Charlotte's best bit: Donkey going on the internet to try and figure out what's going on
Daddy's favourite bit: A nicely respun version of the classic "It's a Book".
(Kindly sent to us for review by Roaring Brook Press)