posted on 03 May 2024

Guess Who’s Getting Dressed and Guess Who’s Going to Sleep by Smitriti Halls and Marta Altes

Little hands benefit from sturdy board books because they can get very young children used to turning the pages independently. In my experience, the most popular ones have bold and colourful illustrations and include plenty of novelty to keep the young reader focussed and engaged. This pair of lift-the-flap books created by Smitriti Halls and Marta Altes each promise four optical illusions and a mirror surprise.

Guess Who’s Getting Dressed

The intriguing cover shows a smiling sheep wearing a huge red spotted pullover with stripey blue gloves and a scarf, pink spotted socks and laced up brown boots. Even babies will be able to touch and point at the different clothing items with help from an adult and perhaps learn some new words too. Slightly older children can be encouraged to guess if the story is going to be about the sheep, or if they might meet some other animals. 

The story has a clear repetitive rhythm from the first left hand page where the minimal text proposes a question:

‘Who’s put on

A wooly hat?

Perhaps it’s Penguin!’

The right-hand page shows a snowy hill with a glimpse of some kind of creature, but he is hidden by a large pile of snow which needs to be careful lifted to reveal… a bat! The surprises continue as we meet a fox, a goat, some ants and a mysterious child, none of whom are quite who you might expect to see. On a first reading, children will probably be persuaded to guess what the text and strong visual clues suggest. However, quick learners might remember the tricks on a second or third reading and be keen to shout out the name of the hiding creature before it is revealed. Sharing books like this with young children is always a pleasure because of their enthusiasm about getting it right, especially if the adult plays along and pretends not to remember.   

Guess Who’s Going to Sleep

The cover of this one shows a winking cat resting against a moon shaped cushion with lots of twinkly stars against a blue background. Could it be a story about a cat or will there be some other creatures featuring? The same formula is repeated with some more devious visual tricks to mislead the reader. This time we meet a frog, a bee, a dog, a sheep and the same mysterious child, all of whom are trying to get off to sleep in different ways. This could inspire some conversation about what happens at bedtime, where children like to sleep, favourite toys to cuddle and other routines.

Both are well designed to develop simple vocabulary and have distinctive rhythm and shape. I liked the way that the text on the left-hand page is completed by the revelation on the right- hand page which rhymes:

‘Who’s that yawning 

By the tree?

Is it Bird?

No! It’s Bee.’ 

Published by Walker Books, you will be able to buy these delightful board books from your local independent bookshop – who will be happy to order them for you if they don’t have them on their shelves.

Karen Argent

May 2024