A Little Bit of Oomph!

Saltzberg builds on the inspirational advice of Beautiful Oops! in a companion book that is encouraging without being cloying. A plain-Jane opening spread that reads “Make something ordinary” reveals its hidden potential when readers lift a flap that transforms the word “ordinary” into “extraordinary,” with bright colored lettering and cartoons driving the point home. On what’s perhaps the cleverest spread, readers lift a small fishbowl to reveal a peephole; peeking through the tiny circle reveals a whale happily swimming through a wide sea (“Watch small notions... become big oceans”). Throughout, Saltzberg’s enthusiastic mixed-media paintings are in and of themselves a testament to the fertile possibilities that accompany an open mind. Ages 2–5. (Sept.)