Istavan Banyai's Zoom is a wonderfully creative concept book that challenges readers to put their world into perspective. The pictures begin with a single object and readers believe they know where they are, but then each page zooms out just enough to change the whole concept of what the setting is. For example, we begin with a close up of a rooster, and then pan out just enough to show two children staring at the rooster out a window, and the next page is looking from an open door and through a room at the two children staring out the window at the rooster. You start out thinking youre in a Bavarian village, only to find out later you're in a photograph on a magazine in the hand of a boy on a cruise...and it doesn't end there! This sort of repetition and layering helps children piece the concept together gradually and follow along as it gets much more complicated as it goes on. Readers end up travelling all around the world, from Europe, to the ocean, a major city, the dessert, a Solomon island, and even into space! There are no words to distract from the pictures, and the left page is always solid black to further emphasize the perception changes happening on the right page. Each picture is a full page and fleshed out in neon colors.
This is certainly a book that you will go through more than once, as it may take your child a few times through to really wrap their mind around all of the layers. You can start on any page, and even read it backwards, while still practicing the Zoom concept. This book is a great starting point for a conversation with your child about the world and just how much there really is out there, explaining that the world doesn't stop at the end of their neighborhood. You can talk about the different locations the book travels to and what the climate and culture may be like there. It may be fun to try this concept with your little one, beginning with a single object in their room and see how many layers you can add.
I read this book with my five-year-old friend, Nick. I could see him thinking hard once we got into the middle of the book since there were many layers. We slowed down and I let him turn the page when he was ready. As soon as wed finished, he wanted to go through it again. The second time through went a little faster, and he finally said, I never thought of that!
--Audra