Children's Book Review: I Feel a Foot!

I Feel a Foot! by Maranke Rinck, illustrated by Martijn van der Linden (Boyds Mills/Lemniscaat, $16.95, 9781590786383/1590786386, 32 pp., ages 2-6, September)

This nocturnal guessing game from the team behind Prince Child and its companion, The Sweetest Kiss, will appeal to children and parents alike as a picture-book remedy to the notion of monsters-under-the-bed and as a clever puzzle for young animal lovers. The opening scene features a brightly colored hammock in bold stripes and diamond patterns stretched between two formidable-looking trees. It holds five unlikely companions attempting to catch some Zzzzs: Turtle, Bat, Octopus, Bird and Goat. "Suddenly, Turtle opens his eyes. 'Hey,' he whispers, 'do you hear what I hear?' " The narrative describes the night as "pitch dark," and van der Linden obliges. As the startled animals tumble out of the hammock, a smidgen of which is visible at the very top border of the next spread, the creatures' jewel-like colors light up against the coal-black background. Bat's lavender wings sport flowers and frond-like twists; Octopus's cream-colored body shows off a swirl of blue, gold and rust-colored fish, like an X-ray view of her most recent meals. As the friends attempt to investigate what Turtle has heard in the deep dark night, each discovers a different clue--and relates it back to him- or herself. First up, Turtle "feels a foot," in the image that appears on the cover. Indeed, the foot pictured resembles a giant version of Turtle's own. But when Bat flies into the air to explore, she discovers a wing, "Just like my wing--but superduper big." Not until Octopus touches what she thinks is a tentacle (but which will look to keen-eyed observers suspiciously like a trunk) will youngsters begin to piece together the other clues. Each body part in isolation works beautifully with the five animals' hypothesis that the nighttime intruder is just a larger version of themselves. When the interloper reveals himself for who he is, and the quintet asks him to join them in the hammock, those formidable-looking trees bend so low that the hammock touches the ground. Rinck and van der Linden strike just the right note between suspense and reassurance to offer a bedtime tale with a humorous twist.--Jennifer M. Brown

 

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