Review - Can You See Me?

Can You See Me?
by Mikhala Lantz-Simmons
illustrated by Mohammad Rasoulipour
Date: 2019
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 40
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

Engage the imagination and teach animal recognition with this carefully designed, interactive picture book for curious children.

Using abstract art, Can You See Me? challenges the mind and celebrates diverse ways of seeing. Each spread contains an illustration of an animal made up entirely of equilateral triangles. Read the clue and wait for your child to spot the creature hidden in plain sight. Chances are, they will see the animal before you do!

(synopsis from Goodreads)

The premise behind this book is actually pretty neat. Each of the animals is depicted using just a few equilateral triangles, and readers are invited to guess what they are based on the simple rhyming text. Despite the illustrations being so basic, it's actually not that difficult to "see" each of the animals; the triangles are arranged in such a way that they suggest the shapes of the various creatures. (There's really only one animal that I still can't quite "see", although I figured out what it was from the text. I have a feeling it might be like one of those pictures where you can see both a vase and two faces, depending on how you look at it; so different people might see different things, or one reader might see something different with each viewing.)

The rhyming text is cute and works well with the illustrations. I can see this being a nice little book to sit down with and have some interaction over, as both adults and kids can have some fun trying to figure out the different animals. (The cover is a good example of the kind of thing you'll find in this book. Can you see the giraffe?)

Overall, I thought this was unique and engaging, even though it looks very simple on the surface.

Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing a digital ARC.

Premise: 5/5
Meter: 4/5
Writing: 4/5
Illustrations: 3/5
Originality: 5/5

Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall: 3.86 out of 5