What Is Black and White? [Board book]

Petr Horacek (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 2 and up

Inventive first concept books for babies and toddlers who are just discovering the world around them — in all its color and contrast!


What is black? The cat and the crow. What is white? Milk and snow. What is black and white (and striped, like the graduated pattern at the edge of these pages)? A zebra, of course! These simple novelty board books — featuring stunning art by a bold new talent — will surprise and delight small children even as they teach basic colors.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

If the night, a cat, and a crow are black, and snow, milk, and a goose are white, what is black and white? Turn the diminishing pages of this clever little board book to find out. As each alternating black-and-white page narrows in width, black and white stripes start appearing on the left side, until... surprise! The final page reveals the answer we've all been waiting for. The left side of each two-page spread has black text on white or white on black, depending on whether "the milk is white" or "the cat is black." Opposite, against changing jewel-toned backgrounds, is each lovely black or white item. Petr Horacek's lovely watercolor-and-crayon illustrations give this small book a rough-edged, friendly look. For more delicious color play, don't miss Horacek's companion volume, Strawberries Are Red. (Ages 2 to 5) --Emilie Coulter

From Publishers Weekly

Two new board books by Petr Hor cek burst with color, shrinking pages and clever designs. In What Is Black and White?, young readers learn that "the night is black" and "the goose is white" as the die-cut pages grow smaller. The last spread shows a zebra whose body is partly made up of the graduated pattern formed by the edges of the previous die-cut pages. Luscious fruit fills the shaped pages in Strawberries Are Red. A die-cut on the last spread reveals a fruit salad.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 2 and up
  
• Board book: 14 pages
• Publisher: Candlewick (June 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0763614602
• ISBN-13: 978-0763614607
• Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 6.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,173,134 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Clever little book, October 4, 2010

By 

Benji (Sussex) - See all my reviews

This review is from: What Is Black and White? (Board book)

My 12m daughter loves this book and enjoys turning the pages to find the zebra at the end. It is both colourful and tactile and demonstates a beginning and end to a book for very small children.

2.0 out of 5 stars Not that cute, April 3, 2008

By 

N.R.M. "vespa girl" (san diego, ca usa) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: What Is Black and White? (Board book)

This book has a cute idea in that the pages make a fun image at the end. However, it only has eight pages and the artwork is not that great. I sell artwork and this did not impress me. In fact, the black cat has a big pink [...]! Gross! That's not a part of our cat's anatomy I want my 17 month old to focus on. There are so many more wonderful books than this one with even better images. A fantastic interactive progression book is Carle's The Grouchy Ladybug. And, by the way, most of my son's books about color DO mention black and white.

5.0 out of 5 stars great simple book, January 10, 2007

By 

Splandi (baltimore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: What Is Black and White? (Board book)

Every young child 4month - 2years that came over and saw this book was mesmerized by it. It is simple, but fun and a great book for introducing reading to very young children!