Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

Blop comes in many colors, but only one distinctive, easy-to-draw shape. The latest in a series of offbeat, imaginative creations by renowned French artist Tullet will intrigue children and encourage them to think outside the blop. Tullet takes a single shape, a puffy X reminiscent of a butterfly or a flower, and allows it to run wild through a colorful circus of abstract ideas. Using very few words and a homely, handwritten script, Blop visually explores many concepts encountered for the first time by young children, including up and down, single and plural, colors, individual and family, school and classroom, pleasure and pain, beauty, the art museum, city and countryside, the universe. One spread asks questions to which there are no right or wrong answers: "What do Blops eat?" "Would you like to have a Blop?" "Can Blops fly?" Any child bored with standard activity-book fare will love using this open-ended, imaginative tool for creating their own universe. "Moi C'est Blop" (the original French title) taps directly into the heart of a child's natural creativity by avoiding the didactic explanatory tone of similar books. Lighthearted, fun and original, this book will delight children and parents alike. (Picture book. 2-6)

School Library Journal (Sat Jun 01 00:00:00 CDT 2013)

Gr 1-5 Imagine a shape, neither blob nor spot, an irregular shape with four bumps-a Blop. This clever, engaging exploraton of the world of Blop begins simply but soon moves to the unconventional-unlimited even by the shape of the book. Each page receives a title and progresses appropriately slowly from black and white to an explosion of color one-third of the way through. There's a Blop made from thumbprints, a Blop family, Blops in the classroom and on the playground, museum-inspired Blops, an "invisible" Blop, a museum Blop, a pop-graphic Blop, flower and animal Blops, and a Blop in the mountains or under the ocean. If you need mobile Blop, there are punch-outs on a page and even a frighteningly realistic "scribbled-on" version. The art culminates in a series of questions. "What do Blops do all day?" "What do Blops eat?" "Are Blops friendly?" "Do Blops like to sing?" Imagination takes flight. For readers of all ages, the possibilities make an excellent story starter or may be shortened with emphasis upon a single page. All that's missing is Blop in a library&30;. Mary Elam, Learning Media Services, Plano ISD, TX

Horn Book (Thu Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2013)

A "blop" is a four-leaf-clover-shaped blob, and it is the only shape used in the book, which progresses from easy (black-and-white blops, different sizes and numbers of blops) to more complex (blops in a book within the book, merging and mixing their colors). The heavy paper, rounded edges, and thick board covers indicate a young, hands-on audience.

Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews

Blop comes in many colors, but only one distinctive, easy-to-draw shape. The latest in a series of offbeat, imaginative creations by renowned French artist Tullet will intrigue children and encourage them to think outside the blop. Tullet takes a single shape, a puffy X reminiscent of a butterfly or a flower, and allows it to run wild through a colorful circus of abstract ideas. Using very few words and a homely, handwritten script, Blop visually explores many concepts encountered for the first time by young children, including up and down, single and plural, colors, individual and family, school and classroom, pleasure and pain, beauty, the art museum, city and countryside, the universe. One spread asks questions to which there are no right or wrong answers: "What do Blops eat?" "Would you like to have a Blop?" "Can Blops fly?" Any child bored with standard activity-book fare will love using this open-ended, imaginative tool for creating their own universe. "Moi C'est Blop" (the original French title) taps directly into the heart of a child's natural creativity by avoiding the didactic explanatory tone of similar books. Lighthearted, fun and original, this book will delight children and parents alike. (Picture book. 2-6)