Welcome to Mamoko by Aleksandra Mizielińska and Daniel Mizieliński, 16 pp, all ages




Big Picture Press presents the large format board book Welcome to Mamoko by the Polish husband and wife team Aleksandra Mizielińska and Daniel Mizieliński, also creators of another fantastic Big Picture Press book, MAPSWelcome to Mamoko is sort of a cross between Where's Waldo and a Richard Scary book with a sign on the cover urging readers to "USE YOUR EYES!" This is EXACTLY the kind of book you buy as a gift or, even better, if you have to take your little ones on a long car, plane or train ride. Welcome to Mamoko is bursting with creativity, cleverness and cuteness. For extra fun (and educational experience) have your kids make up stories about the characters in the book as they "read" from page to wordless page. For tips on how to encourage your kids to do this or how to do it yourself, read my article  How To Read a Book Without Words (Out Loud)


The opening pages introduce the reader to twenty-four animals, one alien and Clyde Snatchit, a shady character who can be seen sneaking off of each page, showing only a shoe and stripy sock, until the final page of the book where you learn what Clyde has been hiding. Each character gets a brief bio that also cues the reader in as to what to look for on each page. There is a Town Carnival tonight - but will everyone be able to go? The bio of Miss Clover Moonis tells readers that she is no lazy cow and asks them to discover what keeps her busy during this day. See if you can find her in this picture!




This is only half of the spread, but see if you can find Magical Miss Chubb. Readers are asked to discover what she has in her mystery box...



My favorite spread is this one where everyone is in the park or walking past it. Boris Greenshell, a character we see on the first page, has a hole in his bag. Readers are asked to determine what his bag was once full of and, when you figure it out, it's fun to scour the rest of the pages looking for the lost items. The authors list a few other items to search for on each page, but really, there is so much going on that it's easy to get happily lost in every spread. 




This image isn't in the book, but I love it and wanted to share...




Source: Review Copy

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