Written in simple rhyme, it starts with a picture of a ladder and a question: what’s up top?
The rest of the story is an exploration of what might be at the top of the ladder, and the ideas get sillier and sillier as the story progresses.
A hat or a cat? A dog or a frog? Rain or a train? An invisible man or a door to Japan?
With a funny twist at the end, this is a story that will give you a giggle but also provide kids with a wonderful adventure through possibility and imagination.
Marc Martin’s illustrations are, as always, stunning. Gorgeous pastel colours, beautiful textures, simple and yet detailed at the same time. But this is a different kind of story, and illustration style, to that of some of his other well-known works (A River, Lots).
The illustrations are more minimal in this book, with lots of soft coloured backgrounds and the pictures given their own focussed space on the page to shine. This makes What’s Up Top? a fantastic book for younger ones, with simple illustrations they can identify and focus on, paired with a shorter rhyming text.
Simple, beautiful and fun, this is another marvellous Marc Martin book to add to your collection.
Title: What's Up Top?
Author/Illustrator: Marc Martin
Publisher: Penguin, $24.99
Publication Date: 28 August 2017
Format: Hard cover
ISBN: 9780143783886
For ages: 2+
Type: Picture Book
