Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* The little yellow dot from Press Here (2011) and Mix It Up! (2014) returns, and this time it's in the mood to play. After a few introductory press here instructions, the real fun begins. Toddlers will be immediately engaged as the dot follows a black line, changes colors, plays hide-and-seek, travels through the dark, disappears, jumps onto the listener's head, pauses for a stoplight, runs, flips, and flies. Along the way, youngsters will experience various unstated emotions: exhilaration with the dot's movements, curiosity searching for the hidden yellow dot, bravery in the dark, disgust at ugliness, and silliness over the dot springing off the page. As with the earlier titles, this is interactive, inventive, and intuitive, but it does not repeat Tullet's previous tricks. An unseen narrator gently prods listeners (even adults will be hard pressed to resist responding) to follow simple commands, resulting in an experience that will convince some toddlers that the book in hand has become a touch screen device. As before, Tullet employs mostly primary colors set against white backgrounds, ensuring that the intended audience will focus on important details. The choice of heavy page stock and a sturdy binding also bodes well for repeated viewings. Ideal for one-on-one sharing, this could also work as part of an interactive story hour.--Weisman, Kay Copyright 2016 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Tullet (Press Here; Mix It Up!) develops his innovative, interact-with-the-book project still further as readers travel through the book with a yellow dot. "So, will you take me along? It's easy: Just follow the line with your finger," says the dot. Readers trace Tullet's spidery, squiggly black scrawl across the pages: "Wow! That's really way up high... and really way down low!" the dot exclaims as the ink line arches, then dives. Tullet, always a fountain of new ideas, sends the line swirling and creates a carousel of dots to circle. There's a tunnel for the dot to go through and a page full of menacing splotches ("I really don't like this page," the dot says anxiously). Most of the interactions are hits-readers help the dot vault over a red blob, at which point it lands, the dot claims, in the reader's hair-with a couple misses mixed in (tucked deep within the book's gutter, the dot is nearly unfindable on a hide-and-seek page). Regardless, Franceschelli provides another fine translation, and Tullet's fans will rush to add this to their collection. Ages 3-5. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-Fans of Tullet's Press Here (2011) and Mix It Up (2014, both Chronicle) will be entranced by his latest interactive offering. This time, readers are invited to follow a yellow blob through a variety of travails. Kids will be busy tracing their fingers along a curling black line, pressing the dot, and searching for it. Though simple-most of the pages are dominated by white space-Tullet's design is masterly, with the images and text artfully placed, and there's a beguiling charm to the childlike aesthetic. Spreads where the tone takes a slightly darker turn-a Jackson Pollock-esque one, for instance, dominated by smudges of black-add a bit of menace but never threaten to overwhelm. The text, rendered in Tullet's signature all-caps font, is enthusiastic and encouraging, perfect for this age group. The interactive elements make this selection ideal for reading alone or with an adult and are sure to invite plenty of repeat use. VERDICT Tullet proves once more that apps are no match for his savvy and kid-friendly vision. A delightfully whimsical addition, especially where the author's other titles are popular.-Mahnaz Dar, School Library Journal © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Another digital (in the original sense of the term) adventure from the reigning grand master of no-tech gaming. Following genial directions in a "hand-lettered" typeface called Herv Tullet Whimsy, readers can make a slightly-larger-than-thumb-sized yellow circle shift position by pressing different spots (and then turning the page). This is prelude to a fingertip odysseytraveled by "pushing" the dot along a continuous inked line that bounces, loops, climbs stairs, snakes through a thicket of streaks and dots for a bit of hide-and-seek, creeps into a dark passage and past obstacles, halts temporarily at a red light, then breaks into a series of increasingly exuberant spirals. The dot finally follows the line off the edge of the last page, leaving behind a tempting "Hey! Do you want to come back sometime and play some more?" The general idea has been carried through more elaborate, concrete iterations in a direct line that leads from Crockett Johnson's Harold and the Purple Crayon to Laura Ljundqvist's Follow the Line (2006) and sequels. Still, the spot offers an engaging ongoing commentary, which ranges from "Oooooh WOW ooooooo!" to "EEEEK! We better leave on tiptoe" and (for a spread of chaotic black scribbles) "I really don't like this page. You see why now, don't you?" It encourages a broad range of emotional reactions and responses from fellow travelers to go along with the physical interactivity. Playful indeed. Preschoolers will line up for a turn. (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
