All Around Bustletown: Winter

Praise

“What is it about cross-section illustrations — the kind where you can see everything going on inside a house, upstairs and down, all at once — that makes them so mesmerizing? Berner, one of Germany’s best-known children’s authors and illustrators, excels at these fascinating dollhouse-type scenes, a staple of the German genre known as Wimmelbooks. Hers are jam-packed with old and young characters engaged in prosaic, silly or mysterious activities that young readers can spend hours poring over…Parents and grandparents may be especially susceptible to this giant board book’s old-fashioned charms.” —The New York Times

“In spite of this book’s thick, board book-like pages, I’m inclined to put this in the picture book section due to its size and contents. And what wonderful contents they are, too! This little German import follows in the step of Anno, as you drive by a variety of different winter scenes. Now in the past this book would have cause me a small headache. Why? Because those Europeans, lord love ‘em, are crap at multiculturalism. Not Berner! Somehow she got the memo and so this book is more than just a sea of samey same same white faces. Amazing how that contributes to the joy of picking out all the details and repeating characters. A seek-and-find book for the 21st century.” —School Library Journal


“This large-scale board book is a great way for kids to lose hours, without a single screen in sight. It’s the “Where’s Waldo” of pretty much every detail of a town and its buildings, with gathering snowflakes falling from flurries to groundcover throughout. Find something new with each look at the pages.” —Upstate Parent