Achoo!

In this deceptively naive book from French artist Virginie Morgand, it’s spring time in the forest and all the animals are sneezing. But every time an animal sneezes, something strange happens.

First comes blue bear. He wants to pick some spring flowers, but when he sneezes, his round ears fly off, only to appear on the next page as blueberries. Fox likes blueberries, but he doesn’t get a chance to pick them because as he sneezes, his triangular ears also fly off to the next page, where they are mistaken for carrots. And so the book continues.

Eventually, each animal sneezes their way to a completely new look which lasts… until the lion sneezes. What look do they end up with this time? Well, that’s a question for the reader to answer.

This is an excellent introduction to shapes and colours. The quality of the book is very high, colours are bold and clear and the layout is simple and uncluttered. The book epitomises the very best in graphic design, compelling the reader forward to search for missing ears and eyes in their new form and to discover what humorous incident will befall the next innocent animal.

When young readers have finished exploring, there’s plenty more new stories to be created from the shapes and colours in the world around them. This book is highly recommended for pre-readers to share or to read alone. It’s one that will be returned to time after time.