Near, Far

Originally published by Italy’s Minibombo, this wordless picture book is both a playful exploration of perspective and a goofily amusing animal guessing game. In a series of three-spread sequences, readers are confronted with crisp-edged, abstract shapes rendered in bold mustard, lime, magenta, and other saturated colors; with each page turn, the image seems to zoom out. In the first sequence, two green lumps stand like hills against a yellow background; turning the page reveals more spiky lumps, now looking a bit like grass, and another page turn reveals them as the spiky back of a startled-looking alligator. Elsewhere, pink blobs resembling cake frosting are actually a wide-eyed rabbit’s feet, and an all-teal spread becomes the body of a sizeable hippo. Stylish, charming, and lots of fun. A camouflage-centric book, Now You See Me, Now You Don’t, is available simultaneously. Ages 2–5. (June)