YOU AND ME: WE’RE OPPOSITES

Zoo animals explore the ways they are different in this latest from Ziefert. Long’s tongue-in-cheek digital illustrations add pizzazz to the simple formula of the animals’ declarations of their opposite-ness, entirely rendered in speech balloons. Lion asserts his authority over tiger: “I come. You go.” Elephant terrorizes lizard: “I’m big. You’re little.” Giraffe states the obvious to the penguins: “I’m tall. You’re short.” And in the end an exhausted zookeeper breathes a sigh of relief: “I’m awake. They’re asleep.” Clean lines, simple details and bright colors keep the focus on the opposite pairs, which explore such attributes as position, size, location, color, mood and activity. While none of the animals declares, “Buy this book, not that one,” this does pack a triple punch—the concept-book format pleases parents, the illustrations and guess-ability of the opposites suit a storytime setting and children will go ape over the animals. (Picture book. 3-5)