Match It

The conceit of this slickly produced book is a game that takes longer to explain than to play. Text on the left page of each spread invites the reader to ``Pick a toy or fruit, color, shape or animal''; colorful illustrations of six objects are obligingly supplied. Attached to the right page are three full-page gatefold flaps (on top, side and bottom), each with diecuts and details of the facing illustrations. The point of all this fol-de-rol? Arrange the flaps in the correct order, and an image of the selected object will appear in all its glory. The publisher suggests that the book will ``sharpen logic and memory skills''--an overly ambitious goal, but the intended audience may well amuse itself by combining the flaps randomly. Van Fleet made more playful and more educational use of paper-engineering techniques in One Yellow Lion. Ages 4-8. (Jan.)