Peepo! (Viking Kestrel Picture Books)

Rating:
Summary: Worth tracking down
Review: This is a book I often send as a gift for new babies. My son is two and a half and has loved to have this book read to him since he was a few months old. The concept is what a baby can see. The story is told in a catchy rhyme which is fun to read (a plus for the parent who reads a lot of books to their child!) and easy to listen to. The board book has the added attraction of cut out round holes to give us the baby's view of the world - 'Peepo!'. For the baby or toddler listening to the story this is a bonus as they can put their hands through the hole and add a new sensation to the experience. The illustrations themselves give a nostalgic view of working class family life in post-war Britain. They are crammed with detail and give the child plenty to look at and for while listening to the story. The best kind of story reading experience for the very young child.

Rating:
Summary: Here's a delightful book 1-2-3 Peepo!
Review: This is a book I often send as a gift for new babies. My son is two and a half and has loved to have this book read to him since he was a few months old. The concept is what a baby can see. The story is told in a catchy rhyme which is fun to read (a plus for the parent who reads a lot of books to their child!) and easy to listen to. The board book has the added attraction of cut out round holes to give us the baby's view of the world - 'Peepo!'. For the baby or toddler listening to the story this is a bonus as they can put their hands through the hole and add a new sensation to the experience. The illustrations themselves give a nostalgic view of working class family life in post-war Britain. They are crammed with detail and give the child plenty to look at and for while listening to the story. The best kind of story reading experience for the very young child.

Rating:
Summary: Worth tracking down
Review: This is a very sweet book with the right amount of repetition for our 17 month old boys - they bring me this book along with Each Peach Pear Plum (another Ahlberg creation) to read to them....over and over and over.

Rating:
Summary: Peepo teaches us how to see
Review: This is one of the great ones. At one level Peepo is geared to very small children. Each page gives us a different glimpse of a baby's day, as the adults in his world go about their obscure yet urgent tasks. Our initial view of each full-page illustration is through a big hole in the centre of the page. A rhyming text describes the picture, and asks "what does he see?". The beautiful pictures are full of the gentle humour and double takes that are an Ahlberg trademark and their depiction of family life is dead on. My favourite is the two little sisters fiercely contending for the right to hold baby, even as he pulls the victor's hair and does just about everything else he can to make her rue that victory. The text is sweet and simple, never cloying, and perfect for small children, with lots of repetition, rhyme and rhythm, yet enough variety to keep things interesting. It talks to the child the way I wish more adults would, in a forthright, yet sympathetic (and not patronizing) tone. That baby is priceless, and his antics alone are worth the price of admission.

What puts Peepo into the "great book" category, for me, however, is the deeper answer it seems to pose to the question "what does he see?". For the illustrations hint at a story far deeper and darker than the words suggest, and seemingly targetted at adults, not children. It's easy to ignore these hints at first, but as they accumulate Peepo begins to feel more like an glimpse into an Eddic realm than a toddler one.

I use this book as an intelligence test on my friends, since about 90% of them cannot detect this hidden story and miss the hints. It is also an interesting small group exercise, since a team of 4 or 5 working together can usually eventually work out there is something much more to the pictures than initially meets the eye.

I think Peepo is a powerful illustration of the argument that we refuse to see what won't match our preconceptions, since there are things in the Peepo illustrations I have never ever seen in another book aimed at small children, yet these just don't register the first few times you look at the book. Most people don't (and perhaps can't) answer "what does he see" correctly.

Peepo's hidden message is all the more powerful for its poignant subtlety. Lots of authors have tried to say what Peepo does, but none has ever succeeded so brilliantly, in my estimation. And those who succeed in decoding Peepo may find themselves confronting bigger questions, such as why is that message so hard for us to receive and what drove the creators to bury their treasure so deep, and with such incredible art?

I have never read another small children's book that has haunted me like Peepo. Once decoded, it leaves an aftertaste more reminiscent of e.e. cummings than more typical toddler fare. And "solving" it only multiplies the mysteries. Yet mysteries aside, it is a wonderful book for small children. I have had great fun reading it to the 2- and 3-year- olds in my life. Its hints of a darker world-drama beyond the crib never once overshadow the brilliant beauty and innocence of this book, at least for the young children it will be read to.

I strongly recommend this book for small children, particularly in the board book format for those who like to try to tear books (although the larger illustrations in the softback format are nicer). Some 4-year-olds and up may fancy themselves too sophisticated for it.