What do you think?
Who Are They?
Share these animals
and their babies with your baby.
It is never to early
to look and talk together!
and their babies with your baby.
It is never to early
to look and talk together!
12 pages, Board Book
First published September 15, 1994
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
October 7, 2008
Board book
For babies-preschoolers
Each spread in this wordless book features one silhouetted animal with an increasing number of babies, from one lamb to five ducklings.
"Who are they?" the title asks, and the illustrations answer with sharp, silhouetted animals, classic in their simplicity and realistic depiction. There isn't anything cutesy, abstract, or anthropomorphized about these familiar shapes, which makes the illustrations perfect for children just learning their animals. Each spread is uncluttered, featuring only the black animals against a cream background and creating a perfect backdrop for plenty of interactions with the illustrations. While this might not be suited to a larger storytime, due to the lack of text, it would be a fantastic interactive book with a child or two. The sharp contrasts make it well-suited to babies, and preschoolers could use it to practice counting - or "read" it to a younger sibling.
No professional reviews available.
For babies-preschoolers
Each spread in this wordless book features one silhouetted animal with an increasing number of babies, from one lamb to five ducklings.
"Who are they?" the title asks, and the illustrations answer with sharp, silhouetted animals, classic in their simplicity and realistic depiction. There isn't anything cutesy, abstract, or anthropomorphized about these familiar shapes, which makes the illustrations perfect for children just learning their animals. Each spread is uncluttered, featuring only the black animals against a cream background and creating a perfect backdrop for plenty of interactions with the illustrations. While this might not be suited to a larger storytime, due to the lack of text, it would be a fantastic interactive book with a child or two. The sharp contrasts make it well-suited to babies, and preschoolers could use it to practice counting - or "read" it to a younger sibling.
No professional reviews available.
June 11, 2018
WHO ARE THEY THOUGH
March 11, 2013
Who Are They? by Tana Hoban is a wordless board book with outlines of five different silhouetted animals and their babies.
Hoban's black and white animal outlines offer the perfect sharp contrast that will attract the attention of babies, toddlers and preschoolers. Sheep and lamb, pig and 2 piglets, dog (dachshund) and 3 puppies, cat and 4 kittens, and duck and 5 ducklings are pictured on double page spreads. Each baby is shown in a slightly differnt pose. This simple presentation invites counting, practice with animals and baby animal names, making animal sounds, and language development. This is highly recommended for preschool and public library collections.
For ages 0.5 to 4, animals, animal babies, wordless, counting, board book, and fans of Tana Hoban.
Hoban's black and white animal outlines offer the perfect sharp contrast that will attract the attention of babies, toddlers and preschoolers. Sheep and lamb, pig and 2 piglets, dog (dachshund) and 3 puppies, cat and 4 kittens, and duck and 5 ducklings are pictured on double page spreads. Each baby is shown in a slightly differnt pose. This simple presentation invites counting, practice with animals and baby animal names, making animal sounds, and language development. This is highly recommended for preschool and public library collections.
For ages 0.5 to 4, animals, animal babies, wordless, counting, board book, and fans of Tana Hoban.
July 26, 2008
This is my daughter's first favorite book. She has seen other black and white books, but this one seems to hold her interest longest. She can stare at the dachshund picture endlessly. It calms her when she is fussy. She also enjoys the ducks, but is less interested in the sheep and pig. The dachshund continues to please her every time.
June 20, 2007
Interactive with parents and children. Say the animal and then make the animal noise.
November 25, 2009
I think this was just right for my two-year-old. There are no words, but she enjoyed naming the animals shown in silhouette.
Want to Read
November 25, 2009arabic
March 10, 2011
Each spread has animal silhouettes of babies and their parents. My 20-month old loves it.
July 27, 2011
Nice little black and white book for babies. No words, but the high contrast is very engaging to babies.
November 7, 2011
dynamite picture book for babies, not cartoony. realistic pictures in black and white, high contrast
Read
February 10, 2014This is a great one for babies to stare at!
March 12, 2014
Even simple black and white pictures can be interesting.
February 10, 2018
A shadow animal gameguessing book where each page shows an animal family and you guess what they are. toddler and up
February 22, 2026
A wordless book of silhouettes really provided a unique opportunity for me and my newborn to challenge ourselves to really explore these characters, not just in the narrative but as an exercise in empathy and self reflection.
My newborn seemed disinterested and fussy as we read this at 1 in the morning while preparing for an upcoming meal, but I think that’s the point of good art. To challenge you and make you sit in this discomfort and I think this book can do that for you, but the household is mixed so maybe this book is polarizing. Maybe we will revisit next year.
My newborn seemed disinterested and fussy as we read this at 1 in the morning while preparing for an upcoming meal, but I think that’s the point of good art. To challenge you and make you sit in this discomfort and I think this book can do that for you, but the household is mixed so maybe this book is polarizing. Maybe we will revisit next year.
April 13, 2021
Nice silhouettes.
March 7, 2026
Great high-contrast book for babies.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews