What Am I? - Hardcover

Debbie MacKinnon is a freelance designer and writer of books for the very young. She has collaborated on many titles with Anthea Sieveking, including the Surprise, Surprise! board books which were highly commended for the Petits Filous Best Toy Award. Debbie lives in Australia. To visit Debbie MacKinnon's website click here Through her career, Anthea Sieveking has concentrated on photographing children and young people particularly in the area of child development. Her photographs have appeared in many magazines and books including education books aimed especially at children. Her work has been used by the World Health Organisation and in 1994 she worked in India as part of the 'Child to Child' scheme to promote health education amongst poorer children. Another area of her work has been portraiture of personalities including Ben Kingsley, Iris Murdoch, Sir Winston Churchill and commissions by the Arts Council of Great Britain. Her other books for Frances Lincoln are My First ABC, the 'Find My' series, the 'Eye Spy' series, the 'What Size/What Shape' series, Young Gardener, All About Me and What Am I?

Ages 1^-4. As in MacKinnon's What Size? (1995), this concept book uses brightly colored photographs of children at play with toys and everyday objects. This time, each child is pretending to be an adult at work: fireman, chef, astronaut, musician, farmer, doctor, clown, and, finally, parent. Each left-hand page shows a child playing dress-up with appropriate clothes and tools; on the opposite page are individual objects associated with the occupation. For example, Lara asks her teddy bear where it hurts as she wraps gauze bandages around him. What is she? The answer, "Doctor," is on the opposite page, which shows a toy stethoscope, scissors, syringe, case, and bandage, each one labeled in large, clear type. There may be some confusion between the real tool and the toy version, but kids will enjoy a book that shows adult roles they can act out in their games. Hazel Rochman