Small readers are drawn to small things: caterpillars, pebbles, body parts. So Many Feet is a celebration of that fascination. Sticky feet, jumping feet, wet feet, blue feet: nature is masterful in its adaptations. A sloth's "hook-like claws allow it to hang from tree branches." A polar bear has feet that "spread wide to keep it from sinking into the snow." And the shovel-snouted lizard "moves quickly so the hot desert sand doesn't burn its feet."
Each spread in this irresistible board book portrays a different creature in its stylized habitat. Orange kangaroos jump right out of the frame through a pinkish desert landscape. An adorable gray mole pops out of the brown earth next to a fat, pink earthworm and a geometric bug. Against a snowflake-studded periwinkle sky, polar bears gaze coolly outward, an unconcerned puffin perched on a rock nearby. Nichole Mara's one-sentence descriptions with headings ("PICKY FEET," "SCRATCHY FEET," "SLOW FEET") pair cleanly with debut illustrator Alexander Vidal's crisp, flat, artful pictures.
Aimed at tots who are just beginning to ask the "why"s and "how"s of the world, So Many Feet helps readers understand that nature has a reason for everything--geckos must have sticky feet to climb up walls, and elephants stomp their feet to warn each other of danger. A final spread asks "What can YOUR FEET do?" Like Matthew Van Fleet's Tails, So Many Feet will have readers begging for repeated out-loud readings. --Emilie Coulter, freelance writer and editor