Simms Taback Books - City Animals

School Library Journal Children will love this bright, bold foldout book. The left-hand side of each spread shows a part of the mystery animal, along with the repeating phrase "Who am I?" Each right-hand page contains clues that are revealed one by one, exposing more of the animal as readers unfold the page, until the entire (sometimes life-size) animal is revealed. The text is simple and direct, with a typeface that is easy to read. The book is conducive to baby or toddler storytimes as well as one-on-one reading. Review by Kate Neff, Alachua County Library, Gainesville, FL

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Publishers Weekly Full-page flaps unfold vertically, then horizontally, to create bold, large-scale images of city fauna in a sturdy guessing book. "Who am I?" asks one animal. "I make friends with people" (only a pair of legs appears at first, then another clue after lifting a flap: "I have a collar, a tag and a leash"). By folding out the third flaps to complete a square, the full picture is revealed: "I'm a dog!" Taback's animals are accentuated against bold blocks of color, and there's humor, too: the creatures' expressions range from alarmed to goofy to just plain vacuous.
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Play the Guessing Game!
From the publisher: This follow-up to Simms’ Safari Animals presents six city animals in a guessing-game format: a pigeon, a police horse, a squirrel, a dog, a cat, a mouse—all poster-size illustrations in Simms’ one-of-a-kind style.
— from the Publisher

Kirkus Reviews Following the same format as Simms Taback's Safari Animals (2008), the author/illustrator celebrates the animals that make their homes in the city. The clever design offers children a tantalizing glimpse of one-fourth of an animal along with a clue as to its identity. The right-hand page then unfolds upward to reveal another fourth of the picture and an additional clue. Unfolding this page to the left reveals the entire animal and the answer in a poster-sized illustration. The city dwellers include a squirrel, a dog, a cat, a police horse, a pigeon and a mouse. Bold colors, clean lines and simple details suit the youngest listeners, who will be pleased with their deductive skills as they guess the animals' identities before the final unfolding. The heavy cardstock should withstand many readings-good thing, as this one is sure to be a favorite among young patrons.