Read, Read, Read said the Baby: I spy in the ocean by Damon Burnard, illustrated by Julia Cairns

[This review was previously published. It has been edited.]

The text is the classic I spy game, using letters "I spy with my little eye something beginning with the letter O" for example. It's not an alphabet book - the letters featured are random, but when you look at them in order they spell O, C, E, A, N. The last spread adds an additional fact about each animal featured.

A note on the cover - the black circle is a die cut hole and I don't know why it's black - on the actual book you can see a clownfish through it. The holes in the book show a glimpse of the animal you're guessing, then when you turn the page it becomes part of the name of the creature. The placement of the holes is clever, but it doesn't show enough of the animal and the animals chosen are too complex  - Nurse Shark? Seriously? The pictures really didn't grab me at all - too watercolorish, not enough clearly defined lines and images for a board book.

Verdict: I like I Spy books, but I wouldn't use this with a board book audience. I'm not even too thrilled about it as a picture book. Edward Gibbs' I Spy books are much, much better.

ISBN: 081182988x; Published 2001 by Chronicle; Borrowed from another library in my consortium