Kirkus Review

Outsized animals open wide, inviting younger children to do the same. "Tiger, tiger, / is that you, / hiding in / the tall bamboo?" Six wild animals pace, glide, or slither through natural settings--seen alternately from the side and then full page and face on in images that gape with the lift of unusually large flaps to expose toothy or fanged maws and a rousing "GRRRR GRRRR" or other prompt. In addition to the tiger, readers meet a crocodile, a generic snake, a monkey, and a lion, each set against a clean background with the occasional whimsical touch (a dragonfly gives the tiger a side-eye; a frog looks nervously at the crocodile). Along with building up to repeated crescendos in her accompanying rhymes ("Such pointy teeth, / your tail so long, / such scaly scales, / and jaws / so strong") Kerouli uses big, rounded, simplified shapes and bright color contrasts to create both instant recognition and immediate visual drama. Even with a slow reading it's all over too soon, but the pictures are tailor-made for sharing with big groups, and all the roaring, snapping, and hissing will leave audiences of any size set for follow-up action rhymes, a round of "Old MacDonald Had a Farm," or a high-volume thematic cousin like Brian McLachlan's convention-busting What Noise Do I Make? (2016). Alas, the flaps are flimsy enough that they will not likely withstand direct use by children. Roaring good fun. (Novelty/picture book. 2-5) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.