Review - Sammy in the Winter

Sammy in the Winter
by Anita Bijsterbosch
Date: 2019
Publisher: Clavis
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

Yippee! It's snowing. Sammy and Hob are going to play outside. They will have lots of fun together.

A book with half pages that hide and reveal how Sammy and his little horse Hob enjoy winter. For toddlers ages 30 months and up, with a focus on the child's world.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

Sammy in the Winter is a simple picture book aimed at toddlers. It's one of those books that's really only enjoyable for its target audience.

One day, it snows. So Sammy gets dressed up in his warm clothes, takes his toy horse, and goes outside to play. He sleds, skates, skis, and builds a snowman. I read an e-book version, but I think the idea is that each spread has a little flap that flips forward and back, revealing different scenes. It works fairly well... although I'm not sure why the window in the first spread moves across the page between the two scenes!

It's a decent depiction of a young child's day in the snow. It's nothing special, but it will probably keep toddlers entertained for a few minutes.

Thank you to NetGalley and Clavis for providing a digital ARC.

Premise: 3/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 3/5
Illustrations: 3/5
Originality: 2/5

Enjoyment: 2/5

Overall: 2.5 out of 5

Review - Hide and Seek, Little Chameleon

Hide and Seek, Little Chameleon
by Anita Bijsterbosch
Date: 2019
Publisher: Clavis
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 18
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

From Kirkus Best Book of the Year author Anita Bijsterbosch!

Little Chameleon loves to play hide-and-seek. He knows a few special hiding tricks. Will you help look for Little Chameleon?

A cheerful seek-and-find book filled with colors, numbers, and animal friends. For toddlers ages 30 months and up, with a focus on the child’s language development.

(synopsis from NetGalley; see it on Goodreads)

This book actually surprised me. I had fun reading it and looking for Little Chameleon... and I'm a grownup!

Hide and Seek, Little Chameleon somehow manages to be a counting book, a find-the-objects book, and a colours book all in one. On each page, Little Chameleon is hiding among various other creatures. For example, on one spread, we see a yellow duck in the water with four snails and five caterpillars... and Little Chameleon is also hiding in there somewhere. Each of the numbered things are easily counted. Little Chameleon is a little trickier to find, but he's there.

I don't know how many times this book would be fun. After you've found Little Chameleon, a large part of the surprise is over. But I guess you could still read and count and reinforce the colours.

This would be a great book for toddlers. I think I would've enjoyed it when I was little!

Thank you to NetGalley and Clavis for providing a digital ARC.

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

Enjoyment: 4/5

Overall: 3.67 out of 5