What Am I? Christmas

September 1, 2011

A simple riddle format lets toddlers and preschoolers use textual and visual clues to guess the Christmas character or item hidden behind sturdy flaps on each right-hand page.

Following the same pattern used in What Am I? Halloween (2011), a short description written in first person on each left-hand page gives some obvious clues: "I'm topped with a golden star, and my needles are green." Each flap asks, "What am I? What could I be?" Under the flap, part of the illustration peeks out to give the young reader another way to predict the answer, revealed in both words and the full-scale illustration when the flap is lifted. Following pages introduce the cast of familiar Christmas characters: an angel, a reindeer, a snowman, an elf and Santa, of course. The brightly colored illustrations are done in a cartoon style with large, simple shapes that fit into the lift-the-flap format.

While this format may seem obvious to anyone over the age of 5 (and especially to any older siblings who might pick this up), the structure is remarkably well thought out for the youngest children, who will find the clues-prediction-answer concept an amusing challenge. (Picture book. 1-5)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

October 1, 2011

PreS-Gr 1-Bold graphic-style illustrations fill this "lift the flap" entry. A sentence appears on the left, and part of the answer peeks out from underneath the flap on the right to give a clue. For example, when the text reads, "Up, Up, and away! I fly Santa's sleigh," the back legs and tail of a reindeer are shown. Questions like, "What am I? What could I be?" are written on the bold-colored flap. Once the flap is lifted, the answer is revealed to all, "I am Santa's reindeer. That's me!" Youngsters will enjoy giving the answers and participating in the refrain, "That's me!"-Diane Olivo-Posner, Los Angeles Public Library

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2011
Preschool-K I'm topped with a golden star, and my needles are green. What am I? What could I be? Lift the flap and underneath is a prettily trimmed Christmas tree. Eleven more flaps, each continuing the refrain What am I? What could I be? tease little minds (and fingers) to guess and then discover what's hiding behind: an angel, a gingerbread man, a wreath, a reindeer, a stocking, a snowman, a Christmas present, an elf, a candy cane, and Santa Claus himself. Just enough of each image sticks out from the flap for kids to anticipate the answer (e.g., one arm and one leg of the gingerbread man). The illustrations are brightly colored graphics that have a warm, holiday, even giftlike appeal. This addition to the My Look and See Holiday Book series will amuse young ones as they participate in recognizing many of the commercial aspects of this favorite holiday. Glossy heavyweight paper makes it suitable for very young hands.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)