Animals Home Alone by Loes Riphagen
Review by Chris Singer
About the author (translated from Dutch from the author's website):
Loes Riphagen is a Dutch author from Oene, a small farming village in the Veluwe. She graduated in 2007 at the Art Academy in Rotterdam. Loes debuted in 2008 as a children's author and illustrator of the picture book Bedroom Nocturnal animals (the fountain). With her cheerful and cheeky illustrations Loes Riphagen falls on the public, the press and various juries. For her illustrations in the book house beestenboel (Fountain), it Flag and Pennant 2010 and receive the book Bedroom Nocturnal animals, she was nominated for the children's retail 2009/2010. Superheldjes (Fountain) is even elected core title of the Children 2011. Currently lives and works in Rotterdam Loes.
About the book (from Amazon.com):
Part picture book, part game, and all fun, Animals Home Alone, introduces readers to fifteen animals who begin to act in unusual ways when the humans are away. In wordless pages, each animal finds a unique activity or bit of mischief to get into. At the book's conclusion, readers are asked questions about what the animals have done.
My take on the book:
We discovered Animals Gone Home on our most recent visit to the library. When they're well done, I really enjoy wordless picture books and we've discovered a few lately which have been big hits in our home so we decided to check this one out.
Animals Gone Home is part book, part game and a lot of laughs. The illustrations are so cute and quirky and they have had my daughter laughing out loud and squealing with delight. Each page gives readers a hilarious view of what happens when families leave the animals alone at home.
Today, while Tessa was supposed to be napping, I could hear her laughing. When I opened the door to her room, she was sitting in the corner in her little rocking chair, leafing through the pages of Animals Gone Home and just having the time of her life!
I'm not sure I've ever seen my daughter enjoy a book more (and that's saying a lot!). What's been so much fun for us is that we can tell a different story each time we "read" it. Tessa is about to turn 3 and I get such a thrill listening to her tell me what's going on in the pictures. We've literally sat and poured over the pictures and telling and retelling for an hour at a time. The best part is that neither of us have grown tired of it yet!
