ANIMAL, VEGETABLE, OR MINERAL?

In the jacket copy of this wordless picture book, readers/viewers are invited to enter a guessing game: to determine for each of the full-color photographs of varied subjects from a closeup of an artichoke to a crocodile if what appears is animal, vegetable, mineral, or any combination of the three. As always with Hoban, the excellent full-color photographs reward examination, but a key or identification of the photographs and their category or categories is sorely missed. Without one, the real use of the book is limited to librarians, educators, and parents equipped to explain the properties of sponges, broken egg shells, and honeycombs. Beyond browsing, this will only be as interesting to children as the adults guiding them through it. (Picture book. 5+)