Yum-Yum!

In What's Up? two children climb tree, skyscraper and mountain in their quest to find out 'what could be higher?' Confusion then sets in as they travel further and further from earth to find something 'higher' than moon, sun or stars. At this point the authors give in and admit that they meant 'further' - the words 'taller', 'higher' and 'further' are easily enough confused by young children without a book that confuses them further. In addition, a supplementary text adds both visual distraction and information which swings between being irrelevant and rather too advanced for the potential audience for a large, brightly-coloured picture book. Confusion piled on confusion - avoid it!

Much more successfully, Yum-Yum! illustrates a possible (if unrealistically long) food chain, supported by a nicely repetitive text and pictures giving a clue to the identity of the next animal in the chain. Once again there is a supplementary text giving further information about the various animals involved, though this information is not always relevent to the theme of the book.

Both these books finish with a page of 'useful words'. I would be surprised if the likely audience for picture books of this sort need or would use a glossary, particularly one which repeats almost word for word an explanation already found in the main text, or includes words unconnected to the book's theme.