NIBBLES

A book-chewing monster leads a young reader on a brief but merry chase through a volume of facts.

Having previously digested a Dinosaur Guide (2017), the librivorous Nibbles—resembling a toothy lemon drop in Yarlett’s cartoon scenes—here dives into a more encyclopedic repast. Successive spreads dish out niblets of information about the sun and moon, dogs and cats, images and words, and colors. Finally, a “jolly countdown” sends a smiling Nibbles blasting off in a rocket through an irregular die-cut hole in the rear cover. The narrator, a white lad, pants along behind, past various observers, both human and non-, offering side comments, through other cutouts and into occasional attached booklets. Younger readers thrilling to the chase will likely blow right past the factual content, which is largely relegated to blocks of small, at times difficult-to-read type. It includes both a supersonic history of art from paintings made by “cavemen” on and a breathless reference to color mixing that scores a clean miss as none of the “primary” hues on splashy display are ever actually mixed (or, for that matter, true primaries). Still, along with droll (to some) views of lots of chewed-up books and pages, the dashes of information add a STEM-ish flavor to the escapade.

Brisk but uneven, with an appeal more vague than broad.