All Shook Up! and Who's There? by Alain Crozon

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My kids, in fact, all the kids in my extended family, are well beyond the age to enjoy board books. But I still really love reading a good board book. It brings a smile to my face and, if it's a superior board book, it entertains me. Who's There and All Shook Up, Alain Crozon's two new (to America) board books with flaps to lift and wiggle are entertaining, surprising, and filled with fun in ways that I have not seen in a board book before.

You know you're in for a treat right from the start with Who's There when, on the first page, Crozon presents an egg with a crack in the middle. Open the flaps and a little yellow guy, presumable the chick we are all expecting, is playing peek-a-boo. Unfold the hands over the eyes and the bottom of the shell and you find a turtle! Crozon also gives readers a ripe banana to peel and a very clever two page spread where a sombrero is flipped from one character to become a sailor's hat on a cat with an eye patch (which you can also lift) on the opposite page! The final page is my absolute favorite - a lift-the-flap nesting doll with a surprise behind the fourth doll.

 All Shook Up, where a parade of animals have all sorts of things going on, is equally fun. 




There are wings to flap, flutter and fold. There is also a fox with a blue mop of hair covering his eyes that turns into a spiky up-do when lifted. An elephant's trunk and ears get to swing and shake and a donkey gets to kick those legs.

Crozon's animals are charmingly cartoonish and his color palette of red, blue and yellow, is bright and inviting. The construction of Who's There and All Shook Up is perfect. The trim size is large enough to allow for big, sturdy flaps for little fingers to grab. You may have to fight your kids to get a turn reading these fantastic new books!

Source: Review Copy



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