THE BOOK WITH A HOLE

Deliciously interactive and profoundly immersive, this book provides rich imaginative play from cover to cover.

The cover is red, black and white, with a substantial diecut half-circle void bisecting its spine. The pages are just black and white. Each spread has an irresistible circular hole in its middle and a few black lines to make an image for its question. “What are you going to cook?” invites readers to see the hole as the opening of a pot, with savory steam rising from it. The hole becomes the mouth of a three-eyed creature, the stomach of a dyspeptic gentleman (“what did he eat too much of?”) and then the expansive middle of a cheery pregnant woman (“Did she eat too much, too?”) Readers can put their own heads in the holes to be king or queen or build their own block skyscraper through a hole that’s surrounded by them. There’s a game board—with the hole of course—to make up your own rules. Readers are invited to toss a crumpled sheet of paper through a hole to shoot baskets or to make a trunk for an elephant with their arms. Sometimes the black-and-white lines become patters with no text, leaving youngsters to ask their own questions about that hole.

Most apps have a long way to go before they will be as artful and engaging as this interactive wonder.