LOOK LOOK

Everyday objects transform into various animals via lifted flaps.

“Look, it’s 1 donut. Or is it something else?” Across the gutter, readers see an isolated orange doughnut against a white background. With the opening of a double-creased gatefold, the doughnut changes into a white-snouted marmalade cat, with much of the doughnut revealed to be the curve of its tail and the rest its cheek. While many of these metamorphoses are delightful surprises in Baruzzi’s friendly, graphically flat cartoons (a tulip transforms into roosters’ combs, or a lemon becomes the body of one of 10 chicks), some are strained (the ice cream pop–to-tortoise and carrot-to-rabbit transformations force the critters into odd shapes). The project becomes a counting exercise as the number of each creature increases by one. The gatefold pages are thinner than normal board-book pages, but they should survive several rereadings.

A page-turner for the toddler set.