Little Faces: Don’t Wake the Tiger!

Little Faces: Don’t Wake the Tiger! by Carles Ballesteros (Quarto Children’s Books)  HB RRP $14.99

ISBN 9781784936242

Reviewed by Daniela Andrews

Oh no! You woke the tiger! Quick, turn the page …

This little board book features charming Venetian page movements, giving young readers a bit of a giggle as they watch themselves ‘accidentally’ wake each jungle animal with a simple page turn.

The story features bright, colourful illustrations and is quite playful. Readers are asked to tiptoe past the tiger, panda, lion and elephant without waking them up. Though the text encourages children to get involved, the illustrations also feature a monkey to take responsibility for waking up each animal. Circular cut-outs cleverly frame the sleeping animals on the right, and the monkey on the left.

My toddler loves turning the pages in this book and watching the animals’ expressions change, over and over again. At the end of the book, the tiger, panda, lion and elephant are all awake … but the monkey has fallen asleep. The ending didn’t faze my toddler as he wasn’t so involved with the story. My older children (aged 3 and 5) were a bit confused – they wanted to continue the pattern of the story and wake the monkey too!

For this reason, I’d recommend the book for those aged 3 and under. It’s a great book to read aloud and enjoy with young children. And if the older ones are listening too, and want an ending that’s a bit more interactive … try asking them if they’re still awake, then tickle them when they pretend to be asleep!