Who Was That?

February 15, 2018
Following on Who Done It? (2015) and Who What Where? (2016), more visual tests of powers of observation and memory.In oblong cartoon scenes, some with die-cut holes, Tallec lines up a cast of children and animals. He then, after a page turn, asks which one had a yellow scarf or what color undies a figure was wearing, who in the new scene wasn't in the previous one, or another unpredictable question. Even at this elementary level (there are never more than seven figures in view, and usually fewer) grown-ups will have no advantage tackling these challenges, as the author changes the type of thing that must be noted and recalled each time. Thanks to lots of puzzled, pop-eyed expressions in the art and a certain amount of comical folderol--an instruction to tilt the volume to the right sends everyone on the next spread staggering in that direction, some clearly queasy--the game is as playful as it is tricky. Sometimes the details are just as much fun as as the game (if not more so): a lion wearing red rubber boots and a pink dog dangling by its teeth from the outstretched arm of an unperturbed bear will have children giggling. The human children are mostly pale, though one has brown skin and two others, (possibly) inexplicably, have green.An eye-opener for anyone who thinks that looking and seeing are the same thing. (answer key) (Picture book. 4-8)

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July 1, 2018
This companion book to Who Done It? and Who What Where?, which shares the low, wide trim size of its predecessors, is part interactive book and part memory test. Blow out the candle and turn the page, it opens. Readers eager to follow instructions but who fail to linger over the lineup of characters staring at them will be stumped on the next (all-in-darkness) spread, where viewers are asked to identify the character who is wearing a yellow scarf. The questions posed to readers and the challenge to their observational skills compel these page-turns, Tallec having fun with unexpected queries and entertaining distractions. On one spread ( What is Olive afraid of? ), furry blue creature Olive appears to point in fear at a blond child appearing in a die-cut; viewers who hurry to see the die-cut's reveal may fail to notice what color Olive's undies are, and thus be unequal to the challenge of the follow-up question. Though answers are revealed on the final page, expect a lot of paging backwards for second attempts to nail a question. Mining an understated humor from these cartoon characters, Tallec keeps things bright, both with color choices and the book's playful tone. Fresh, funny, and engaging: there's no second-guessing that. julie Danielson

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2018
"Blow out the candle and turn the page," opens this companion book to Who Done It? and Who What Where? Readers' observational skills are challenged on the next (all-in-darkness) spread when asked to identify the character who was wearing a yellow scarf. Questions compel each page turn as Tallec presents viewers with unexpected queries and entertaining distractions. Bright color choices and a playful tone keep things fresh, funny, and engaging.

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)