One morning ("Cock-a-doodle-doo!"), a sister and brother eat breakfast ("food"), get dressed ("boots") and a grab a ride ("zoom") to the zoo, where the double O words ("kangaroo," "cockatoo," "baboon") just keep coming. It's not all smooth sailing: the kids' longing ("drool") for ice cream ("scoop") turns into an "Oops! (boohoo)" when a boisterous dog comes on the scene ("Woof woof"). Upon the kids' return home, it's time for a bath ("bathroom," "shampoo") and bed ("book," "snooze"), after which the reader journeys outside ("moon") to take in the sound of an owl ("hoot") and the sight of fireworks ("look"). Here an attentive reader might wonder, "Where's the 'boom'?"
A picture book that takes as its text more than 30 words containing two consecutive Os sounds like breezy entertainment, but Fiona Woodcock's art is worth a close inspection. Her bag of tricks includes rubber stamps, stencils and BLO pens; after she gives each of her compositions a digital rinse, the result is two dozen illustrations resembling woodblock prints, with their own moods and color schemes. A two-page spread devoted to "balloons" and "cool" has the siblings standing against a wallpaper-like backdrop of overlapping multicolored balloons, the sister wearing Jackie O shades and doing a pointy-fingered pose; the next spread has the sibs unselfconsciously enjoying a garden ("bloom"; "Achoo!") full of red and pink flowers that call to mind a Marimekko print. How else to say it? Look is a toothsome and groovy book. Understood? --Nell Beram, freelance writer and YA author