The book does that with style as it introduces readers to eleven wild animals. Each animal picture is displayed on a horizontally split page, enabling children to mix and match and create their own unique animals. There are apparently 121 different creatures that can be made by varying the picture flap combinations.
Along with the pictures, each double page spread follows a pattern with the name of the animal and a funny rhyme about what it looks like and its habits. And these are not just your ordinary, everyday animals like lions and elephants, there are also more unusual species for children to discover, like the flamingo and antelope. Here’s the warthog:
“My snout has lots of lumps and bumps,
My tusks are sharp and short.
I swish my tail and flap my ears,
And give a great big snort!
Although my legs aren’t very long,
I trot around quite fast.
And if you ran a race with me,
I bet you would come last!”
Flip Flap Safari is a bright and colourful book that will keep young readers well-occupied, with or without adult help to read it. It has strong spiral binding encased in a sturdy cover which should make it a long-lasting and much loved book, able to be read over and over again.
Title: Axel Scheffler’s Flip Flap Safari
Author/Illustrator: Axel Scheffler
Publisher: Nosy Crow, $15.99 RRP
Publication Date: September 2014
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 9780857632944
For ages: 3+
Type: Picture book
