Black Cat, White Cat: A Pop-Up Book of Opposites - Hardcover

Pop-up books have come a long way, baby, and Chuck Murphy, creator of our all-time favorite, Color Surprises: A Pop-Up Book, and the astounding One to Ten: Pop-Up Surprises!, surely deserves some of the credit. In Black Cat, White Cat: A Pop-Up Book of Opposites, youngsters will love interacting with the myriad meowers, all displaying a state of opposites. On the first page sits a dignified, green-eyed black cat, simply labeled "Black cat." Lift the cat, fold it left, and out springs a white cat chasing after a big red ball! On another page, "High cat" perches atop a pop-up ladder, as "Low cat" slinks by below. With the simple downward tug of a tab, "Young cat" magically forms jowls and a bigger head to become "Old cat." No run-of-the-mill, two-dimensional illustrations could communicate the concept of opposites as effectively as this artful book. But even those who have already fully grasped "near and far," "day and night" won't be able to resist these nodding, leaping, prowling cats. (All ages) --Karin Snelson

A pop-out book that combines paper engineering and artwork to convey concepts that illustrations alone could not. Cats may be the ideal subjects for exploring opposites related to motion. These cats' adventures take them high and low, near and far. Murphy (Colors, 1997, etc.) creates realistic cats climbing pop-up ladders, hopping through windows, and perching on ledges. Readers pull a tab to turn a young cat into an old cat: A kitten's face fills out with the jowls of the elderly. The cat remains in place for ``day cat, night cat''; the pull-tab replaces the background of sun with stars. It's a great combination of feline antics and 3-D engineering. (Pop-up. 4-8) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.