Saturday, August 5, 2023

O is for Ossicone: A surprising animal alphabet by Hannah Eliot, illustrated by Sara Papworth


Although this is technically a board book, I am including it in my Read 'n' Play reviews, as while I think it has some very positive points, it is not aimed at the usual board book audience of infants and toddlers.

This is an animal alphabet book, which is a familiar genre, but, as said in the subtitle, it has an unusual approach in vocabulary. Each page is a stiff cardstock flap. On the front, it has the letter and vocabulary word, "A is for antennae" or "K is for knuckles" to give some examples. There is also a close-up illustration of the part of the animal, a bee's antennae and a gorilla's knuckles. Lift the flap and there is a full illustration of the animal with additional paragraphs of information. Readers will learn about an elephant's lashes, giraffe's ossicones, crocodile's scutes, and more.

Obviously, this is not actually intended for the typical board book audience of infants and toddlers. The vocabulary is advanced, with fairly lengthy chunks of text in the explanatory portions and the illustrations are conceptual rather than photorealistic. Especially in the close-ups they are blurred with brief strokes of color and line to give the idea of the animal part. The pages are cardstock or thin, shirt cardboard thickness, not the usual sturdy cardboard of board book pages.

Verdict: While I would not add this to a board book collection, and it's not technically a pop-up for those who have such collections, it's perfect for the storytime kits I put together. These include a variety of books, toys, and activities based around a theme and this would be a great addition to an animal-themed kit.

ISBN: 9781665937504; Published June 2023 by Little Simon; Review copy provided by publisher; Donated to the library

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