Animagicals: Colors [Hardcover]

Carol Diggory Shields (Author), Svjetlan Junakovic (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2000 | Grade Level: P and up | Series: Animagicals

Mysteriously arresting images and delightfully intriguing verse - compel readers to open the flap to reveal... an Animagical. Award-winning, best-selling poet Carol Diggory Shields matches talents with a young artist who casts a unique eye on the world, Svetlan Junakovic. The results are exuberantly witty, astonishingly unexpected, and always wonderful. Each title sports twelve spreads, twelve verses with an Ogden Nash-like whimsy, and twelve visual surprises. Deceptively simple and devilishly complex-these are books that everyone from toddlers to adults can crow about.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The jungle night
is black and deep,
And soon I'll join
my friends
in sleep,
I'm watching
the moon,
The moon's
watching me,
Shining
on this

Unfold the tall, skinny page covered by an inky, star-spattered sky to find a... chimpanzee! Seeming to grow right out of the night sky, the midnight-colored chimp gazes out at the reader with solemn, wise eyes. Turn the page to find another animagical poem about a pink flamingo, then a blue parrot, a red crab--a whole jungle full of brightly hued critters, complete with riddle verses and fold-out pages revealing the animal behind the enigmatic rhyme.

One dozen tricks of the eye challenge readers young and old with whimsical paintings of a butterfly lurking behind an orange flower, a frog camouflaged by leaves, and a swan disguised as a snowman. So open those eyes wide and see what you can see! (Ages 3 to 7) --Emilie Coulter

From Publishers Weekly

Newcomer Junakovic serves up an array of bold, perky paintings that are not always what they seem in this new series of rhyming riddle picture books. The paintings in these tall, thin paper-over-board volumes swirl with brush strokes so textured that the objects seem tactile. Each illustration accompanies one of Shields's (Lucky Pennies and Hot Chocolate; Saturday Night at the Dinosaur Stomp) clever guessing-game ditties ("The very best color of all, I think,/ Is positively the color pink./ Pink is for parties and presents and bows,/ And pink's a..."). Then comes the nifty featureAthe illustration folds out like a large flap and, presto-change-o, transforms into something else. For example, what is at first a curvy pink bow becomes the slender neck of a flamingo. The combinations in Music are less straightforward (an accordion turns into a caterpillar with a keyboard as a tail) and less clever. Still, the blend of whimsical creatures, fun-to-say verse and spiffy design will have young readers mastering early learning concepts and clamoring for more. Ages 3-6.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 12 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (October 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1929766041
• ISBN-13: 978-1929766048
• Product Dimensions: 11.7 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,559,394 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Animagicals: Colors, April 14, 2002

By 

paula davis parton (gadsden, AL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Animagicals: Colors (Hardcover)

I purchased this book for my daughter when she was 6 months old. She is now almost 2 and this is one of her nightly requests. The artwork is captivating to young eyes. The rhythm of the poetry is a joy to read aloud. I was very suprised the book was a translation - the riddle poems seem perfect not stilted, as some foreign translations. Now my daughter makes the sound of the animal before the flap is opened to reveal the answer. This book will make the journey to her naming the animal hidden. With 12 riddles this book is also a bargain.