Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 04/15/2017 For kids who love visual puzzles, this handsome book offers a different twist on the find-the-object theme. A typical double-page spread includes two stanzas of rhymed verse on one side, facing an array of objects displayed against a plain background. Almost all those objects have duplicates on the page, but one is unique. The challenge is to find it using some combination of observation, elimination, and luck. One spread features 17 black-spotted ladybugs on white-spotted toadstools. Another includes 41 brightly colored socks hanging on clotheslines. The final spread ramps up the difficulty, displaying dozens of now-familiar objects from the preceding pages. The nimble verses comment on each new scene before challenging viewers to find the singular object in the illustration. Created with a strong sense of design, the digital artwork creates pleasing patterns of forms and colors. The third volume in a series that includes Teckentrup’s The Odd One Out (2014) and Where’s the Pair? (2015), this picture book looks like fun, and it is. - Copyright 2017 Booklist.