Double take is exactly what kids AND adults do as they read through Susan Hood’s latest picture book, packed with language learning, and clever fun! Hood’s known for going deeper in concepts and vocabulary while appearing to give us a simple story. That’s what I love about her books because they inspire thoughtful conversation, description, comparisons and verbal perspective. Fleck’s vintage illustrations delightfully depict  opposites, some more subtle than others that kids loved to discover. Beginning with a simple in/out, asleep/awake set of opposites,  the author lets us know “while those pairs are plain as DAY and NIGHT, not every duo is so BLACK and WHITE.” The perspective changes for near/far or strong/weak, depending on what character is added to claim the title. The elephant looks strongest until the whale shows up! “Now just when you think you’ve mastered that notion, watch relative words set matters in motion.” Take a look from a different point of view, up close or far away, and see how dashes and dots become a butterfly. I loved reading this book to a 7, 9, and 11 year-old and watched them try to describe the message here. “It’s good to look in a different direction!” said the 11 year-old. Talking about perspective, point of view and comparisons was a rich exchange of ideas and could even be applied to how we view friends and classmates that might be different than we are. One Dad- fan said, “There is no refinement of definitions or concepts without developing a keen sense of comparison. Susan Hood opens up that comparison computer in the minds of her readers, and exercises it expertly, from big to small, from fine to coarse, from top to bottom.”

Available at Amazon. Click here