Who is the Beast?

by Keith Baker

This little board book is rich with texture and color. The reader follows creatures through a jungle as they chant about their fear of "the Beast" naming his striped coat, strong legs, long tail, wide whiskers, etc. as bits of him are seen through the foliage on each page. I thought at first it was coaxing young readers to guess the identity of the tiger, but instead we see the tiger come out of the undergrowth to peer at himself in a pool of water: is the Beast me? Then the tiger goes back through the jungle meeting the various animals that had fled from him, pointing out all the things they have in common: the bee also has stripes, the monkey a long tail, etc. On the final spread the tiger smiles at all the animals together: we all are Beasts! And he's not a fierce-looking tiger, he has a gentle, even timid expression. It's a nice little book and I just love the rich textures of all the plants that fill the pages. As an additional visual treat, there's a little snail hiding on each page to find.

I found this one at a library sale, bought it for my little one.

Rating: 3/5 ........ 32 pages, 1990