Let’s Play!
Written and Illustrated by Hervé Tullet
Chronicle Books   3/29/2016
978-1-4521-5477-0
64 pages    Ages 3—6

“A yellow dot. A thin black line.
Adventure awaits!

“Press only a finger to the page to embark on a journey of color, motion, shape, and imagination. Follow the yellow dot’s invitation, turn the page, and you are on your way!” [back cover]

Review
A yellow dot, laying on a black thin line invites you to play. How, you might wonder. First, warm up by pressing the corner and watch the yellow dot respond by moving to that corner. When you are ready, follow the black line with your finger and the yellow dot will follow along. Up and down, over huge hills that sway one way and the other, and then loop-de-loop your finger to move the yellow dot, now completely under your control.

Watch as the yellow dot enters a wheel of blue and red dots, circling like a Ferris wheel. Play a game of hide-and-seek and then disappear in blotches of black. Enter a black cave, climb up the stairs, and back down. Watch out! You are wading through a bunch of eyes—monsters? Hop over a tall red cave, stop at a traffic light, and then twist and turn, flip and flop all the way to the end. Now what? Start all over again!

Similar to Tullet’s iconic Press Here, little ones are to play with this book. Following a black line to move a yellow dot can help toddlers improve their eye-hand coordination, increase a sense of wonder, and develop a healthy imagination. There is no one way of making your way through the adventure that awaits. You can trace the line, flip the book around, or even move yourself around a stationary book. Whatever you do, movement is front and center to Let’s Play.

Young children who loved Press Here and Mix-it Up will like Let’s Play. While someone reads the text, the toddler follows the instructions. I suspect many young readers will take this book off to a favorite corner and play along without the need of text translation. Once you understand you are to follow the black line, the game is self-explanatory. Toddlers will love having a book they can “read” and play without any adult help.

The illustrations, created in paint, are simplistic. Lines, dots, curves, circles, stairs, and dark areas; red, black, blue, and yellow primary colors all help toddlers learn basic shapes and colors. Where they are, as they travel the line, is up to each toddlers. What is in the cave? Whose white eyes stare at you as you travel through the black cave? Why are we hopping over the red hill instead of moving through or around it? Your toddler’s imagination will determine the answers. Teachers can use Let’s Play to improve her students’ eye-hand coordination, attention spans, and imaginations. The kids can develop their own imaginations further by creating their own version of Let’s Play.

This is the third book in this unnamed series, which include Press Here, Mix It Up, and now Let’s Play. I love Mix It Up and the Tullet’s impressive teaching of colors. I think Press Here is brilliant in concept and delivery. Let’s Play feels stretched. It’s not as imaginative as Press Here or as educational as Mix It Up, though Let’s Play uses the same basic concepts. It may be time to move on to a new idea. Hervé Tullet is a brilliant artist with imagination to spare. Whatever he conceives kids will love and immensely enjoy. Let’s Play is no different. Let’s Play will entertain toddlers, especially those who love Press Here.

LET’S PLAY. Text and illustrations copyright © 2016 by Bayard Éditions. Translation copyright © 2016 by Chronicle Books LLC. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Chronicle Books, San Francisco, CA.

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Find Let’s Play on Goodreads HERE.

Hervé Tullet: http://www.herve-tullet.com
Follow on Twitter          @HTullet

Bayard Éditions:  http://www.bayard-editions.com/
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Chronicle Books: http://www.chroniclekids.com AND http://www.chroniclebooks.com
Follow on Twitter          @ChronicleKids    AND     @ChronicleBooks

Simultaneously published in France by Bayard Éditions under the title “Tu Joues?”

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Reprinted with permission from LET’S PLAY © 2016 by Hervé Tullet, Chronicle Books, Illustrations © 2016 by Bayard Éditions.

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Copyright © 2016 by Sue Morris/Kid Lit Reviews. All Rights Reserved

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Full Disclosure: Let’s Play by Hervé Tullet, and received from Chronicle Books, is in exchange NOT for a positive review, but for an HONEST review. The opinions expressed are my own and no one else’s. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Let’s Play
Written and Illustrated by Hervé Tullet
Illustrated by
Chronicle Books 3/29/2016
9781452154770