SO MANY FEET
by Nichole Mara ; illustrated by Alexander Vidal
A variety of animals, 16 in all, shows off what their feet can do.
“HIGH FEET / A mountain goat’s toes help it climb and hold on to the smallest bits of rock.” So begins the text’s repeated formula, continuing with “SLOW FEET” (giant tortoise), “FAST FEET” (ostrich), “SNOW FEET” (polar bear), and so on. The simple facts presented in Mara’s text are simultaneously simple and engaging, and many of the animals she chooses to highlight are not the usual board-book suspects. Alongside the aforementioned animals, readers meet the sloth, the gecko, and the blue-footed booby, among others. Vidal’s boldly graphic art, created with flat planes of highly saturated color, is eye-catching. The larger-than-normal trim size serves these full-bleed, double-page scenes, which illustrate each creature’s fancy footwork and hint at its habitat. They do not, however, necessarily give readers a very good sense of what each animal’s foot really looks like. The final double-page spread reveals all of the creatures depicted and invites youngsters to contemplate their own toes by asking, “What can YOUR FEET do?”
A neat feat.
(Board book. 2-4)