Beat This Book!

An egotistical tome challenges readers to compete in a set of “difficult. Demanding. Brain-stretching” challenges in this interactive text by Calvert. “I’m warning you: I will win” taunts an orange cartoon book at the start. Proceeding pages prompt readers to engage in an assortment of tasks, including seek-and-find, trivia, drawing, folding pages, and much more. Many of these activities require simple participation (saying “balloon” in a high-pitched voice), while brain-twisters ask for more (“Can you say the colors of these words?” reads text alongside color names written in white script). Correll’s thick-lined cartoons mingle with more graphical elements, while the book protagonist, with googly eyes and expressive eyebrows, hogs the spotlight on almost every diverting page. Human figures are portrayed with various skin tones. Ages 5–7. (Sept.)