Not All Animals Are Blue: A Big Book of Little Differences

by Béatrice Boutignon

Five penguins on the ice, five frogs relaxing in the pond, five elephants on their way...Each of the five is the same, but different too. Is it the clothes they are wearing? Their attitude? Perhaps it s their color? Sharing simple concepts, Not All Animals are Blue prompts discussion about colors, movement, attitude, and even accessories! It is an interactive book for adults and children to enjoy together - reading, listening, discussing and laughing.

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Childrens, Fiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2007

Reviews

[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this unusual book.

One page features five creatures; the opposite page invites the reader (AND the listener) to more carefully observe the animals with questions and statements:

Who has a bushy tail?

His tail if very elegant.

Doesn't his tail look soft? It's like a pompom.

A fun formula that encourages discussion, and repeated readings.

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Between Il Sung Na, Nicholas Oldland, Karla Gudeon, and now Béatrice Boutignon, I feel as if I need to start keeping a list of promising new picture-book artists to keep an eye on! Originally published in France as Tous les animaux ne sont pas bleus, Boutignon's debut title is a delightfully interactive animal extravaganza, sure to please young readers who like to take some time with their books.

Each two-page spread in Not All Animals Are Blue features five animals, adorably depicted by Boutignon in pen, pencil and oil. On the facing page are five declarative and/or descriptive statements, each corresponding to one of the animals. It falls to the reader to match them up, and the answers aren't always immediately apparent. More of a concept-book than a story, this lovely little title is both educational and entertaining, building the observational skills of young readers. Particularly observant children will note the color clues in the sentences themselves...

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this with Mister; he was dragging by the end of the book. Some of the pictures take a bit of imagination or guidance from the adult to help decipher. Maybe this is a translation fault? The illustrations are whimsical and we had fun with them.

[Gwen the Librarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love this book of differences. This is one that is meant to be looked at individually with parent and/or child, as the illustrations and the things the reader needs to hunt for are quite small. Each page features an illustration in which the reader must find the differences between the animals pictured. The illustrations are just beautiful and the things we are hunting for are whimsical and not always easy to spot. Sometimes, it's up to interpretation. This is a perfect book for examining and discussing.

[Tara · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good lapsit book share because the kid would want to really look at the page to figure out which sentence each animal went with.

[Andie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this cute little book to Jack a short while ago. He was able to figure out which clue in the story went with which animal picture pretty easily. It was written very descriptively and in easy to understand language for my four year old.
He sat still and enjoyed it all the way through even though it has more pages than he's used to reading.
Will definitely read it to the kids again as I'm sure Emmie will want a turn as well.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is great for a 3-4 year old who likes to talk about the picture and ask questions. On each page are 5 animals that are similar, but are doing different things like wearing a hat, taking a nap, facing backwards etc. The facing page gives 'clues' to match with one of the animals such as "She likes to stretch out". They are easy clues for school age kids, but I'll revisit this one for the inquisitive youngster when he's just a bit older.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me awhile to figure out what was going on in this book, but once I realized that it was best to read a description and then have my four-year-old figure out which creature it belonged to, I appreciated the book more. Somewhere between a book of poetry and a simple "I Spy" book, the illustrations are soft and nice. I'm still not sure why the title is "Not All Animals are Blue." It seems like it was published in France first, so maybe something was lost in translation.

[Sourimak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un album-jeu génial pour parler du thème de la différence aiguiser son sens de l'observation et sa compréhension orale (ou écrite pour l'enfant lecteur). La situation narrative n'est pas si simple pour un jeune enfant mais c'est un exercice parfait pour s'y entraîner !

[Sue Mosher · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun book to share with a little one. You read the descriptions and they pick out which animal in the illustrations matches.

[Taylor Kundel-Gower · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fun basis for discussion!

[Angie Fehl · Rating 2 out of 5]

The illustrations are really cute but I didn't find the rhythm or word choice all that
great. Kinda clunky and lame, IMO. Important idea for a children's book, but wasn't
impressed with this effort.

[Sydney Chaney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a cute book!
Lots of different animals and each sentence goes along with a different animal. Not a lot of character development. Lots of rich language describing the different animals.

[Annie MacPherson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Useful for differentiation practice

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute premise and outstanding illustrations. Got a little old after awhile.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story for guessing the details and differences of these animals all dressed up.

[Mh Weyler]

Various animals on each page are dressed similarly with only subtle differences. The descriptions have the children guessing which animal they are describing on the page. Fun for younger kids.

[Marcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved having the kids think and examine the pictures

[Katy Jean Vance · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise of the book is a nice one, providing a way for parent and child to explore pictures together and discover the little differences between similar animals. But I felt it was way too long, particularly for its purpose. If it have been half the length, it would have been ideal. Also, the amount of text on each page was a little overwhelming.

This would not be a good book for a school library, but the right parent and child might really enjoy exploring the different pages and guessing which animal is which.

[Kelsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Age: Preschool+

A perfect book to highlight the importance of participatory and imaginative reading. This is a good middle grounds for parents that hate wordless books.

The watercolor artwork is light and pleasant and the variety of animals is fun. Although the amount of animals is excessive--particularly without a plot--this would be a fun book to read a little at a time. Kids might be particularly drawn to one set of animals or their favorite animal and want to return to it again and again.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was a cute and fun book to read young children. It is very interactive and would be great for a parent to read to their child. I like how it shows that all the animals are the same but different through their clothes, attitude, or color. The animals personification really made the book come alive for me. I also thought it was funny when the author dresses the animals up in funny clothing like a dress or accessories. The reader must really study the illustrations to notice how each animal differs.

[Boni · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is really more of a 4 1/2 star- my kids loved this book a bit more than I did and kid-appeal counts :) It was a fun read and they loved figuring out which animal was which. A GREAT, more thoughtful alternative to I Spy and spot-the-difference type books and my kids can't wait to read it again. Personally, I wanted a little more narrative arc to the book as a whole- it was a bit random for me. If there had been another layer like that, this would have been a total home run.

[DebbieLisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a bit put off initially. When you first open the book you're hit by a wall of text and that text doesn't tell a story but is rather a series of questions and statements pertaining to the pictures on the following page. It took a few minutes to get into a good reading flow but after getting the hang of it, I thought the book worked, a little clumsily but it still worked. My six year old loved this book and in the end that's really all that matters.

[Carolynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Five little softly colored animals, carefully drawn in pen, pencil, and oil, appear on each page and the young reader is encouraged to distinguish them, with the help of key words in the text. Originally published in France, the book is intended for toddlers, but could be used as a puzzle book with kindergarten and first grade.

[Shelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book discusses differences between animals. Sometimes the animals are the same and sometimes they are different but they always have things that make them unique. This book would be good to read in order to show students that it's ok to be different. We are different and yet we are still the same.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book would likely be a good choice if you have time to really sit and pore over the pictures with a child. I felt that some of the questions might prove confusing, and that the book perhaps went on a little too long. Some of it was charming, however. It felt very French . . .

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the pictures, cute story

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very sweet. Really original concept. Encourages use of imagination, as well as stopping to take a good look at the illustrations.

[Sam Bloom · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very strange, yet neatly illustrated, book that's kind of like a stream-of-consciousness/obversational commentary for kids... if that makes sense. If not, that's par for the course with this book.

[Tracie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one takes some thought at first and that makes it perfect for those inquisitive, older picture book readers.