Twenty Questions

LoveReading4Kids Says

Any collaboration between two such multi award winning picturebook creators is always going to attract attention and this may well be my favourite so far.

Starting with an almost predictable interactive opening question “How many animals can you see in this picture”, the reader is soon startled out of any assumptions about what sort of book this is, by the next colourful spread which asks “How many animals can you not see in this one, because they’re hiding from the tiger?”

The answer to that question can only come from the child’s imagination. What follows, in completely unconnected spreads, sometimes invites speculation (about a cow perched on a wind turbine: “How did that cow get all the way up there?”) and sometimes encourages storytelling (relating to a figure standing on a rocky shore, “Who is she waiting for?”) As one might expect there is a definite humorous element throughout, but also touches of pathos: “Why is the elephant so upset?”.

Some illustrations appear to be deliberate provocations. The absurdity of asking readers to decide which of two men has “a better singing voice” by looking at them and not hearing them. The one pink and one brown face depicted here might illuminate unconscious bias in the audience and some important discussions. I can see this becoming a valuable classroom tool for writing and talking stimulus and the centre of many an enjoyable family conversation.

Joy Court

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