There, There

Japanese illustrator Taro Miura brings his bold, whimsical graphic style to a board book for the very young.

The answer to the question “What does the animal say?” takes a clever turn when a “cluck, cluck,” a “woof, woof,” and a “moo, moo” are met with a toddler’s “wah, wah!” Uh-oh! Now the frog also says “wah, wah!” and the other animals follow suit, shedding big tears, until the child speaks the magic words to comfort them all.Solid backgrounds and the large scale of the simplified animal portraits amplify their emotions—kids are all but certain to giggle their way through the parade of tears in the book’s second half.
—Publishers Weekly

Both books are illustrated with bold, simple shapes rendered in a clean, limited color palette. The narratives are also simply put forth, presenting silly words that parents can play with in all sorts of ways when reading aloud to their toddlers. An absurd but cute read that will have tots and parents alike giggling aloud.
—Kirkus ReviewsTaro Miura is the author-illustrator of The Tiny King and The Big Princess. An award-winning illustrator and graphic designer, he has been selected several times to exhibit his work at the Bologna Illustrators Exhibition. He lives in Japan.