Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews

Open the Garage Door

Open the Garage Door

From the editors at Penguin Random
Illustrator:  Christopher Santoro 
Novelty Board Book
For ages 3 to 5
Random House Books for Young Readers, 2018   ISBN: 978-1524767785

Children love surprises, and they really love it when they know that surprises are waiting for them. They also love vehicles of all kinds. When you combine surprises and vehicles into one book, you can be sure that young children will think that the book is just about perfect.

On every spread in this book children will encounter something that is hidden from view. In each case they are asked a question, and they get to guess what the answer is before they lift a flap to reveal what the surprise is.

For example, on the second spread in this book children will see a garage and they are asked “What do families park in their garage?” When they lift the garage door children will see that there is a small blue car inside. An annotation on the flap gives them the name of the vehicle that has been revealed to them.

Later on in the book we see a picture of a family in their home. The mother is kissing her two children, and we can tell that the children are on their way out of the door. We are asked “What is big and yellow and carries lots of kids?” When we lift up the curtain window we see that a school bus is waiting at the curb outside.

With eleven flaps to lift, this is a perfect book for children who like lift-the-flap novelty books and vehicles.