A delightful fun book about animals with a big twist!

I found this book in Dutch in one of the mini libraries in my town. I already love picture books but this one had something very special that made me want to read it more! I decided to just pick the English edition of the book since I was planning on writing my review in English anyway (plus, I am tired and I don’t want to add books to GR at the moment).

What is so special about this book? It folds out until it is poster format. Each fold holds a new part of the story and it is just so much fun unfolding the book and thus unfolding the story! I have read many picture books over the years and I have seen many special ways to tell a story, from pop-ups to Venetian windows. I may have also see a few books that fold out. However, this is definitely the first time I found a book that you can COMPLETELY fold out.

The first folds I could hold the book, but quite soon I had to just put it on the floor. Dang that poster is indeed HUGE! I love it!

In this book we meet up a chameleon who wants to eat a yummy fly. Sadly, I guess his tongue is not working (because I have seen chameleon do epic stuff with their tongues) and so he finds jungle friends who give him a higher elevation. It isn’t always easy for him to get up, but he does his best. I also love seeing what colours or little chameleon got each new fold. I had a big big laugh at the last animal and what they had to say.

There is repetition. Each time the chameleon finds a friend the last part of the story is edited with that newest friend. My book is in Dutch, but I translated it to give you an idea of what I meant. Though I left the names as they are as I didn’t want to find a new alliteration. “In the jungle where this all began stood Papegaai Prietpraat, Gordeldier Grapjas en Kameleon, who wanted to know how you could catch a fly.” And each time to that text a new animal is added! I have to say I am not a fan of repetition but I know it can help kids so I don’t mind it that much. Plus, I do like how the last page still repeats… but also adds something new.

The art was just such a delight. So playful and fun, and the artist must have had fun thinking of animals to add and make the chameleon change colours accordingly.

All in all, this is a book that will delight young and old. I will be putting it back soon in one of the mini libraries when I do my walk because I want more kids to read this one!