61 Books: #56

The project: to read 61 books, of whatever sort—short, long; literature, schlock; prose, poetry: you name it—before December 4, 2016.

The first ten books can be seen here. The second ten are here. Nos. 21–55 are below this post.

56. Hervé Tullet, Press Here (2011) (10/21/16)

I ran across a reference to this author's newest book, Mix It Up about making colors, and I was intrigued. The mostly-***** reviews on Amazon, however, made me want to start with the first of this clever interactive enterprise: Press Here. The cover gives a solid idea of what's involved: by following simple directions, including pressing, shaking, blowing, standing the board-bound book upright, and clapping, the child (this book is geared to 3-to-5-year-olds) is able to make wonderful things happen with mere printed dots—multiply their number and change their color, grow them in size, make them fall off the page, even shroud them in darkness. As Christopher Franceschelli, who brought the French book to America, puts it, "That it’s powered through imagination rather than electronics—that’s the book’s real gift."

Tullet is known in France as "the prince of pre-school books." Here's a lovely video of him in "workshop" mode in a French preschool, learning from his small teachers just how his books really work.

I know a pair of twins who may enjoy this book in another year or so. In the meantime, I'll play with it myself. Sometimes, the simplest pleasures are the best.