JONES PRINCE, APRIL DIG IN
Dig In!
Illustrated by Michelle Berg
It’s a busy day on the construction site, and these industrious mice are up to something big! But what are they working on? Bold, colorful illustrations and recognizable vehicles with moving parts add to the fun, with hidden clues for the careful observer. Is that red paint . . . or red sauce? Is that a construction pit . . . or a drain? Children will delight in guessing their way to the end, when the final spread reveals a carefully constructed surprise. It’s favorite vehicles meet lunchtime and bathtime in these novelty board books with interactive mechanisms.
“Mice, with construction-worker garb and gear, build and enjoy a full-size pizza. Fluid and often clever verse narrates the action: ‘Crew arrives at break of day. Get to work, right away!/Put on those construction hats. Roll that mountain nice and flat.’ (The mountain here is a mound of pizza dough.) Each double-page spread, except for the first, features movable parts, allowing readers to manipulate the machinery. A spin dial turns the roller of the steamroller or the barrel of a cement mixer (from which issues tomato sauce). Each sliding panel has a hole or indentation for little fingers’ ease of use and moves a loader, makes the ’dozer spread cheese, tows the pizza from the oven and removes a slice from the pie.... In gray, orange and yellow hues and drawn in her flat, graphic cartoon-style, Berg’s friendly mice and clear depictions of vehicles are pleasing and recognizable." Kirkus Reviews
Age Range: 1 - 4 years
Board book: 14 pages
