Opposites

The team behind The Umbrella (2011) explores antonyms in busy scenes featuring a large cast of lively and personable animals. The only text that appears is the contrasting words: "Up" and "Down," "Big" and "Small," etc. In a spread divided by cold and hot, a turtle slides down an igloo on its shell, raccoons have a snowball fight, and pigs and alligators huddle to keep warm. The animals on the opposing page, meanwhile, perspire under a blazing sun in view of a spitting volcano. Mischief abounds, and children will enjoy seeing the animals' mini-dramas, love stories, and adventures unfold. Ages 4-up. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Disparate beasts frolic in a variety of landscapes, all to demonstrate myriad combinations of opposite pairs. A dozen two-page spreads illustrate simple antonyms: big and small, hide and seek, naughty and nice, and more. The pictures are full of mischief. In treating wet and dry, for example, the left-hand, "Wet" page features various animals coping with a rainstorm. One raccoon finds shelter under a giraffe, while another frolics on the riverbank. A small frog high-steps with a big umbrella, and a squirrel and mole huddle under large green leaves. On the "Dry," right-hand page, a panda suns on a beach towel, a family of ducks swim in a pond with a frog lazing on the mother's back, a rhino dozes under a tree, etc. "Up" and "Down" includes a seesaw, a tall tree and tall, broad rocks with a tightrope stretching from one to another. Oh, yes, and an elephant's trunk poking up like a periscope from a hole. Compositionally, these spreads are not for beginners; although the gutter clearly defines the division between opposites, the illustrations typically depict one landscape, and the many animals scattered across them require fairly sophisticated eyes. Good fun for older preschoolers and early-elementary children eager to flex their conceptual muscles. (Picture book. 4-7)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.