MOUSTACHE UP!

Youngsters can mix and match detachable mustaches onto simple black-and-white face icons.

A large pocket holds three paperboard sheets of 12 mustaches in total, which can be detached from the perforated pages. Mustaches of opposite qualities are paired on each page spread: “Moustache UP and moustache DOWN. / Which ’stache covers up a frown?” The left-hand side of each spread has die-cut notches where the tabs protruding from the top of each moustache can be inserted over an illustration of said moustache. Included on this side of the spread is a subtly comic, knowingly retro cartoon of a man sporting one of the mustaches. The right-hand page holds a full-page cartoon face with one notch so the mustache of choice can be inserted. The verse and art seem to point to a correct mustache for each face, but youngsters will likely enjoy experimenting with various facial-hair arrangements. Some of the interchangeable mustaches, the backs of which sport a descriptive word (straight, curly, smooth, rough, etc.) to help with matching, are sturdier than others, and a couple of the thinner ones will be easily torn and the smaller ones easily lost.

These multiple, small accessories make it inappropriate for the typical board-book audience or for library circulation, but this offering will likely appeal to readers who appreciate a quirky and stylized design aesthetic and books with interactive features.