Animals: Hide and Sneak

by Bastien Contraire, Meagan Bennett (Designed by)

Overview

One of these things is almost like the others...

Inspired by the picture book Undercover, a sixty-four-page masterpiece of spot-the-odd-one-out published in 2016, comes a series of odd-one-out board books for the youngest readers. Bastien Contraire creates spreads with four to eight images each - all of which belong together, except one that may resemble the others but has no business joining the lot. A teapot amongst sitting cats, a belt amongst snakes, and a feathered hat amongst birds are all hiding in plain site for the delighted toddler to discover giddily! Young readers will exercise skills of categorization and visual acuity in finding the 'poser', and bask in the preposterous silliness.

Ages 1-3

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780714874227
Publisher:	Phaidon Press
Publication date:	05/22/2017
Series:	Hide and Sneak Series
Pages:	26
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 7.80(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	1 - 3 Years

About the Author

Bastien Contraire is the co-founder of Papier Gaché, an independent publisher of fanzines and art books that promote contemporary drawing and comics. His work in design encouraged him to explore numerous hands-on art techniques, leading him to discover the stencil-print technique he uses for this book. Contraire lives in Paris. This is his first board book.

Editorial Reviews

★ 05/22/2017
“On of these things is almost like the others,” begins this stylish spot-the-different board book, first in a series spun off of Contraire’s 2016 picture book, Undercover. The spreads—printed in purple, yellow, and the brown that shows up where they overlap—feature multiple animals, one of which is an interloper. As in Undercover, there’s sly humor at work in many scenes: seven snakes are paired with a single belt (snakeskin, perhaps?), there’s a wolf among the sheep, and three long-necked birds are joined by a (mechanical) crane. Children may not have trouble spotting the out-of-place animal or object, but the book’s real delights come from contemplating the visual or thematic reasons why it’s there. Ages 1–3. (May)

Publishers Weekly

2017 Board Books Worth Noting, School Library Journal

"A clever and artful odd-one-out book that will engage young readers... The stylish illustrations are simple and recognisable for young readers who love to identify shapes."—Families Surrey East

"Young readers will exercise skills of categorization and visual acuity in finding the 'poser', and bask in the preposterous silliness."—The Children's Book Review

"As in Undercover, there's sly humor at work in many scenes... but the book's real delights come from contemplating the visual or thematic reasons why it's there."—Publishers Weekly

"The rare board book that manages to incorporate both good design and kid-friendly elements." —Fuse8 blog

From the Publisher

2017-05-31
Youngsters are invited to find the object or creature that doesn't fit in with a similar grouping of animals. In arrays spread out on (mostly) double-page spreads, a rocking horse hides among a drove of real horses, a cat sits with a variety of breeds of dogs, and so on. The project is wordless except for the introductory text that introduces the game with echoes of Sesame Street: "One of these things is almost like the others…." Some of the groupings are quite clever: a straight belt is placed amid a row of curvy snakes, a mechanical crane is perched between a living crane and two other long-legged birds, and the sole human figure, who looks to be a shirtless white male, is the only being to walk on two legs in a primate troop. To assist guessers, the final double-page spread shows all the outliers from the subsequent groupings. Using only yellow, purple, and a deep and dusky brown that is created when these two shades are mixed, Contraire uses stencils to create his figures against a creamy white background. While many of the animals and objects are instantly recognizable, the contrast of the mostly yellow critters against white backgrounds makes identification tricky for the board-book set. And while the book design is handsome, the lack of color variation in the art gives the offering a one-note feel. Handsome but so sneaky as to be frustrating. (Board book. 2-4)

Kirkus Reviews