The Foggy Foggy Forest

My preschooler and I fell in love with this delightful picture book. The magic of this book lies not so much in the words, but in the illustrations and the technique used, which is silhouettes of fairy tale characters printed on high quality vellum paper. A simple question "What can this be in the foggy, foggy forest?" is found on alternate pages, and when the page is turned, it reveals a full-color illustration. Among the familiar fairy tale characters portrayed here are the three bears and Goldilocks, and many more. Another delightful aspect of this book is the whimsical text, such as the picture of an ogre with the phrase "An ogre doing yoga." It's unexpected and a pleasure to stumble across such a wonderful picture book. One in which both little ones and adults can take delight in. Highly recommended!

My 3 year old ends up reading this book to me, as she has momorized it due to the awesome pictures, fantastic rhyme and repetitive wording. I think it would also be good for infants, because of the black/white contrast on every other page. I LOVE this book and gave it to a friend at her "Favorite Children's Book" baby shower.

A unique and delicate treasure, I can't remember ever seeing a book exactly like this. "Foggy" pages made of vellum paper display silhouettes of fairy tale characters, which are revealed in full color as the pages are turned. I love how the layers of translucent pages lend a chiascuro effect. There's a really magical feeling as you progress through the book, as one senses that you're slowly moving through the forest. I'll confess, I'm not sure how this book will stand up to heavy use at my library, but for the sheer delight that it provides I was willing to chance it and purchase it for our collection. There's not much of a narrative through-line for the story, but simply seeing favorite storybook characters appear in unexpected situations might be enough to carry the day. The simple repeating line, "What can this be in the foggy, foggy forest?" followed by a brief rhyme, "Three brown bears in picnic chairs," "Cinderella and Snow White, in a water-pistol fight," etc., etc. is charmingly satisfying. The translucent pages have the potential to come across as gimmicky, but the compositional skill required to orchestrate each spread, taking into consideration how it will appear dimly through the other pages is quite a feat. I highly recommend this unusual picture book.

Using vellum to create a sense of fog and shrouding what is to be seen on the coming pages by only seeing the objects and creature backwards and shadowed, Sharratt has created an entertaining book that is sure to delight the youngest of readers. Parents and caretakers of children can play a game with kids by having them guess what is going to be seen on the next page by looking at the misty, backwards shadow. Different characters of fairy tale and myth are found in the story, but doing all sorts of uncharacteristic things, e.g. a fairy jumping on a trampoline, an unicorn playing a horn, an ogre doing yoga, Snow White and Cinderella in a water gun fight, and little Red Riding Hood selling ice cream from a truck. This unusual juxtaposition is sure to further the appeal of the book to young children. Recommended for children ages 2-7.