Gift Giving Guide with Chronicle Kids: Part 4
Taro Gomi's PLAY ANYTHING Playing Cards
Review Copy from Chronicle Books
I discovered Taro Gomi in 1995 when I started working as a children's bookseller and my first born was two years old. Everyone Poops, first published in 1977. With straightforward tidiness in text and illustrations, Gomi, who is Japanese, explores the variety of poop, how living creatures poop and where they poop, ending with this solemn truth, "All living things eat, so . . . everyone poops!" Chronicle Kids has been the American publisher of Gomi's fantastic picture books (he's seventy-five and still at it!) for several years now and they have just released a lovely new hardcover edition of this must-have classic. Gomi's winsome, cheerful illustrations and warm palette pair perfectly with playing cards, and I guarantee, this is a set your kids and you will love. Starting with the tin (rather than the cardboard box which, speaking from experience, kids cannot get the entire deck of cards back into and if they do, the box gets increasingly wrecked each time) this deck of cards is beautifully designed. I love the rainbow suits pattern on the back of the cards and especially love the kings, queens and jacks and the fun activities they are enjoying, as well as the joker, who is reading a book. There is a card that gives directions for playing Crazy Eights, which is a helpful refresher. If you are teaching a child to play cards for the first time, GO FISH is always a good place to start, and consider removing some of the cards from the deck to make managing a hand and keeping track of the game a bit easier.
My favorite Taro Gomi book with a link to my reivew:
