DINOSAURS

From the late, great Taback, a half-dozen burly dinos on sturdy foldout squares.

The latest—though evidently not the last, despite the author’s passing at the end of 2011—in a series of animal board books follows its predecessors in hiding each creature behind successive foldouts with clues in large letters: “Who am I? / I have a long tail… / and a long neck. / I’m a BRACHIOSAURUS!” Ultimately unfolding to four times its trim size, each portrait poses a spotted, brightly colored, simply drawn and appropriately monumental-looking dinosaur in a minimally detailed setting backed with strongly contrasting color fields. The polysyllabic punchlines make the guessing game even more fun.

All of the dinos, even T. Rex, sport friendly smiles that will undoubtedly be mirrored on the faces of any toddler in visual range.