Select one of the keywords
Britto Color Play!: An Interactive Pop Art Book    by Romero Britto Amazon.com order for
Britto Color Play!
by Romero Britto
Order:  USA  Can
Simon & Schuster, 2011 (2011)
Hardcover
* *   Reviewed by Bob Walch

Very thick pages and colorful pop art from one of Brazil's top artists make this picture book very appealing. You'll discover cartoonish, vibrant colored renderings of a cow, pig, bluebird, horse, rooster, lamb and cat as you turn the pages.

If you look closely you'll also notice that each picture has a little white space which you are invited to color or fill in using one of the 12 play pieces that come with the book. Now you'll understand why the pages are so thick. The idea is to drop the round color wheel into the slot at the top of the page and shake it down to where the color or design will show through.

Clever? Not really! Although they are supposedly reusable and can be slipped in and out of each page's slot, you may find that is more of a challenge than the publisher intended. In some cases, you'll have to shake the book so hard you run the risk of breaking it apart. I'd suggest using a large, wire paper clip that can be opened to its full length and then you can push the round disc back up to the opening.

That being said, you can see what the potential problem is here. You'll spend more time trying to maneuver the colored discs than enjoying the book. That's not the intended interactive feature that the publisher had in mind, though.

On the other hand, the bright colors and cute animals make this an attractive book, so why not just focus on enjoying pictures of Shelby the Sheep, Romero the Rooster and the rest of the animals as you turn the pages? (I'd suggest you just get the color pieces into place and leave them there!)

Warning: Although they are rather large, I think the color rounds or pieces also pose a potential choking hazard for toddlers. You might not even want to use them at all around a child who insists on placing things in his or her mouth!

Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons.

Find more Kids books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews