Shopping

Fran Ashdown was the Head of the Children's Department, Capilano Branch, North Vancouver District Public Library.

Annick has demonstrated considerable marketing acumen in importing the Books About Us Series of textless board books from Spain. In them, tiny figures cavort in minute detail that will appeal to toddlers. Delicate pastel colors enhance the delightful drawings.

In The City, little figures scurry about performing tasks and indulging in pleasures peculiar to big city life. Here are a street of shops, a playground, a busy intersection, a train station, and a harbor.

Shopping takes the reader, or rather the looker, to a street market, a department store, a supermarket, and a butcher shop. Toddlers can receive candy from a shopkeeper, choose a bike, and ride an escalator.

Then, it’s The Weekend, and Roser Capdevila’s robust little figures go to the country, the beach, a carnival, their own backyard, and a snow playground.

In What We Do, activities take place at the zoo, schoolyard, park, restaurant, and doctor’s office.

The activities are familiar to North American children, while the illustrations have a distinctly European flavor. This is an enchanting series.