Horn Book (Mon Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2016)

Seeger's classy lift-the-flap book of opposites employs a text that is simplicity itself ("tiny? huge! over? under!") to introduce concepts of contrast and context, appealingly revealed through interactive investigation. Bold colors and decisive lines, clever optical illusions (the lettering for the word simple forms part of a complicated maze), and mischievous humor combine for a thoughtful, well-packaged offering. This is a paper-over-board edition.

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Like Seeger's <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">Hidden Alphabet, this playful volume banks on uncertainty and surprise. Every page is a gatefold, constructed of heavy-duty paper and highlighting a pair of words. In each flap, a die-cut rectangle reveals just a portion of a complete image underneath, and thus a clue to a key word's opposite. The initial spread covers the four title words. In a glossy field labeled "black?," a silhouette of a bat appears in a white square; lift the flap, and the bat transforms into the smiling mouth of a "white!" ghost. On the next page, readers look out a window at blue sky, asking "day?" as a clock strikes nine; lift the flap, and the same nine o'clock appears on a starlit tower at "night!" Readers raise the page flaps as though lifting hinged mat boards away from framed prints; by exposing the concealed margins, they find each word's antonym. Seeger keeps her artwork blocky and colorful, focusing attention on the game and its logical design. She varies her die-cut shapes, so that a "narrow?" vertical line becomes a "wide!" horizontal bar, and five tiny rectangles showing identical blue diamonds ("alike?") open onto a field of blue and white snowflakes ("different!"). The question marks and exclamation points remind readers to keep inquiring, and even the endpapers are labeled "beginning…" and "end" in this satisfying package. Ages 3-7. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(Oct.) Agent: The Frank Weiman Literary Group.

School Library Journal Starred Review

PreS-Gr 3-Clever compositions, a question/answer format, and sturdy die-cuts distinguish this title from many other concept books. Seeger employs flat, vibrant colors and bold contrasts between the framing page that lifts up and the design underneath. While some of the word pairs are familiar, the images are nevertheless surprising: a "black" bat turns out to be the upturned mouth of a "white" ghost. An "ordinary" sheep becomes "extraordinary" when discovered in a cloudy sky with flying pigs and a cow jumping over the moon. Blue diamonds that look very much "alike" are actually quite "different" when they are discovered inside unique snowflakes. Younger children will delight in the magical effect of the transformation, while those a little older will have fun anticipating and analyzing the process itself, propelled by the pattern in which each question yields the unexpected. The title's creative approach offers a variety of possible paths for connection. Books such as Lois Ehlert's Color Zoo (HarperCollins, 1989) or N. N. Charles's What Am I?: Looking through Shapes at Apples and Grapes (Scholastic, 1994) would extend the visual gymnastics for preschoolers, while titles such as Roni Schotter's The Boy Who Loved Words (Random, 2006) would continue adding to a school-aged child's store of language. Opposites attract and expand in this playful celebration.-Wendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Starred Review ALA Booklist

Starred Review Bold colors, carefully placed cutouts, and full-page lift-the-flaps make this much more than just another concept book about opposites. Children will be captivated from the very first page: a large black flap with a cutout revealing a black bat set against a pure white background. The single word black? printed in white, stands out clearly on the page. When kids lift the flap, they'll see the word white! (in white type) and discover that what appeared to be a bat is really the mouth of a ghost. Each of 18 opposites is similarly conveyed using only one word and the lift of a flap: a follower becomes a leader; a tiny bug becomes the eye of a huge elephant. Each flap is a different bold color, ensuring that the child won't miss the word or the figure representing the concept, and the scenes under the flaps are in keeping with the simple yet sophisticated graphic design of the book. Thick, shiny pages add to the sense of richness. From front to back and beginning to end, this is a winner.

Kirkus Reviews

Using the same format as her stunning Hidden Alphabet (2003), Seeger presents readers with another eye-catching concept book. Pictured in a die-cut square is a black bat against a white background: "black?" Lift the full-page flap to see a goofily grinning ghost, the bat transmogrified into its mouth: "white!" Some 17 oppositional pairs follow, some simple—"day? night!"—some significantly more complicated—"addition? subtraction!" and, well, "simple? complicated!" (This latter features the word "simple" in blocky letters that become twists and dead-ends in a massively complex maze.) The very best pairings feature pictures that become graphical elements in its opposite; thus, a flea ("tiny?") becomes an elephant's eye ("huge!"), and a frowny face ("sad?") becomes a smiling, freckled, snub-nosed face ("happy!"). With its mix of basic and more sophisticated contradictions, this volume will appeal to a relatively broad spectrum of ages, gently leading the youngest readers from the obvious to the more complex and rewarding older readers with its graphical cleverness. From beginning to end, another winner from Seeger. (Picture book. 3-7)