Brian Wildsmith's "Opposites" is small in stature, but big in learning! Through carefully chosen words, and colorful pictures, the opposites are clearly emphasized. The detailed pictures, also illustrated by Wildsmith, depict animals demonstrating the opposites in action. Perhaps the most fun and surprising element of this book is the humor. As you and your little one flip through the pages, you will find a seal somehow balancing a squirrel on his nose, a tiger cub chewing on his mother's tail (much to her surprise), and even a hippopotamus crammed into a pelican's beak.
The youngest children will enjoy being able to touch the pages and start recognizing the animals by sight. This is a quick book, so it is easy to read through a few times in one sitting for repetition. You can help your child learn by pointing to the animals and repeating their names. As your child gets older, you can switch and have them repeat the names to you. With one or two words per page, this is also an excellent book for children to eventually start sounding out words and practicing their reading.
When my friend Lilly was one, she loved just looking at the animals on each page. She would get excited when we got to the dog and the lion because she recognized them as a "da" and "ca". Now that Lilly is two, she loves it when I act out the opposites while we read. We do silly things together like jump for 'up' and squat for 'down', or open our mouths as wide as we can for 'open' and clamp our teeth shut for 'close'. Her favorite at the moment is to almost stand on my toes and lean in for 'near', then run to the next room for 'far'. We have had a lot of fun with this book, and I look forward to the time when she can begin sounding out the words.
--Audra
