Look and See

February 1, 2014
In a set of side-by-side scenes made with scads of small toys, buttons, stones, plastic letters or craft materials, Kontzias invites viewers to spot which items have been moved or removed. The components in each pair of photographed scenes are thematically related, from dinosaurs in one to colored pencils, seashells, toy vehicles, or birds and blocks in others. Design fumbles make these tests of visual memory and counting skills even more challenging. "Answers" at the end are only partial, as they identify the changes in each pair of photographed tableaux but not their locations within them. Moreover, though each spread offers a hint ("0 things are new, 11 are gone, 0 moved"), along with the difficulty of keeping the tallies straight--there are 28 changes on one spread!--the terminology isn't always consistent. A toy gorilla's arm that goes from partially to fully visible is designated "New," for instance, whereas seashells that are turned over count as "Moved." What's "not-the-same" as any given I Spy title? Not much. (Picture book. 5-8)

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April 1, 2014

K-Gr 2-In this activity book, readers are invited to study side-by-side illustrations that are similar but not identical. Each spread offers hints to the visual puzzle; the answers are at the back of the book. For instance, the first set of images is a mixed-media photograph of an underwater scene with a royal blue painted background, crinkled blue paper for water, and real seashells and sand dollars. In the facing image, seven things are new and two things have been moved. It is easy to see that both of the conch shells are turned over, one now revealing its iridescent inside; a pink soccer ball has been placed in the upper right-hand corner; and four new scallop and two tiny conch shells have been added. Dinosaurs, a busy highway, an art table, birds' nests, and blocks, and a toy town are some of the other motifs, each getting more complicated than the one before it. The photographs of all of the scenes are bold, colorful, and clear, making this a good choice for individual use or one-on-one sharing.-Jennifer Miskec, Longwood University, Farmville, VA

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2014
The book's left-side spread shows a themed photograph of objects (shells, toy cars, alphabet letters, etc.), while the right shows the same picture with several things changed: objects are missing or moved, others added. It's not the most novel picture-puzzle offering, but the photos are crisp and colorful and fans of the I Spy books will devour it. Answers are appended.

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)