Black? White! Day? Night! is a genius book! Through a series of ingenious cut-outs and flaps that lift to show the opposite, the reader discovers things that are the opposite of what they seem: A black bat transformed into a white ghost, a sunny day that becomes a starry night. Posed as a series of 18 questions and answers, Black? White! Day? Night! is sure to be a big success with small children everywhere.
Black? White! Day? Night! is a book that should be read for the sheer fun and magic of it,
but it can also be a fun way to start a lesson on opposites or an early
lesson on antonyms. In a starred review, Booklist said "From 'front' to
'back' and 'beginning' to 'end,' this is a winner." We agree!!
Interest Level: Preschool - 2nd grade
Just as in her book The Hidden Alphabet, this title uses full page flaps to create surprises with every turn of the page. Seeger presents dozens of opposites, with one word shown before the flap is raised and the opposite of the word shown after the flap is raised.
* American Library Association Notable Children’s Books List 2007
* Child Magazine Best Books of 2006 List
* Booklist Editors’ Choice List 2006
* Kirkus Reviews Best Books of 2006 List
* BookSense Pick of the Lists Book 2006
* Eric Carle Museum Picture Book of Distinction 2006
Here is an example from inside this book. The image on the left
shows the page
with the flap down and a small cut out square revealing a little bug
shaped spot. The word on the page says "tiny?" When the flap is the
lifted, the reader sees the illustration on the right--a large elephant
with the word "huge!" printed next to it. The small bug shaped spot is
now the eye on the large elephant.
All the pages in this book follow
this cut-outs / lift-the-flap-to-see-the-opposite format. Fantastic! Here are some other examples:
You may also want to check out other books by Laura Vaccaro Seeger. It's no exaggeration to say that they are ALL fabulous -- with simple executions but clever concepts. To learn more about Seeger's books, click on the book covers below or the link above.