Editorial Review

The concept of gradually revealing bits of an animal for readers to guess about the whole has gotten a lot of traction in recent years, and this entry in the Zoo Clues series does it as well as anyone. Graphically, the main addition is a jigsaw-puzzle grid overlaying each two-page pictorial with key pieces missing. It’s not the same grid page to page, so there’s no real unfolding visual narrative. Still, even with the somewhat obscuring lines of the puzzle pieces, the idea works. The brief text, meanwhile, serves as the animal’s boasts: “My claws are sharp and curved. I have stiff hairs on my back.” Being that this is (spoiler) a giant anteater, the tell-tale, and fairly alarming, clue is a very long pink tongue. Simple stuff, but effective in directing attention to detail.