French / Switzerland
Mélimélanimo
(Mix-and-match bestiary)
Kitzing, Constanze von
(illus.)
Genève: La Joie de lire, 2015. – [36] p.
ISBN 978-2-88908-252-0
Animals | Clothing | Dress-up | Picture book | Wordless book | Board book
Reading age: 3+
White Ravens issue: 2015
This marvellous mix-and-match book is wriggling with such original animals: An elephant princess drifts by in a pink tutu, while a cool dog lounges lazily all clad in leather. A love-struck good luck pig holding a romantic love letter is followed by an industriously knitting (self-recycling) sheep. Then comes a tiger pirate throwing himself and his treasure chest into battle… followed by many other curious creatures. This Noah’s Ark can be continually re-made and new, even more unusual animals created! Hamburg illustrator Constanze von Kitzing creates pictures more odd than cute in this textless book, sparking young readers’ imaginations and their anarchic drive to dress themselves up in nutty ways and to slip into other roles. The carefully crafted acrylic pictures tuck away much fun, including the little contradictions that come to light between a creature’s front and backside.