Canadian Animals in Colour

If the artwork on the cover of Canadian Animals in Colour looks familiar to some readers, that’s because they first saw it on the cover of Splish, Splash, Foxes Dash!. Valério’s 2018 hardcover picture book has been retitled and re-released in board book format. As the main content has remained unchanged, the many positive things said in the review about Splish, Splash, Foxes Dash! apply equally to Canadian Animals in Colour. That the board book’s dimensions are significantly smaller than the original hardcover actually makes it physically much more appropriate for its very young audience.

The one aspect of Splish, Splash, Foxes Dash! that didn’t migrate to Canadian Animals in Colour were the hardcover’s closing two pages in which additional information was provided about each of the book’s 10 animals. For instance, the opening spread features the colour red, and the Canadian animal Valério selected to represent that colour is the cardinal. The brief accompanying text reads: “Cardinals perch and peck”. Readers of Splish, Splash, Foxes Dash! could turn to the back of the book where they would learn:

Red:
Northern Cardinal.
Cardinals don’t fly south for the winter. A feeder stocked with sunflower seeds will attract the bright red male and pale brown female with their eye masks and pointy head crests.

Unfortunately, should Valério’s board book readers later encounter the differently named hardcover, they may pass on it once they recognize its common opening content and again miss out on this useful information.

Nonetheless, Canadian Animals in Colour, with its bright, bold collage illustrations, is an excellent themed concept book for the very young.