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If at First You Do Not See
HardCover. Pub Date :2014-03-01 Chinese Hebei Children's Publishing caterpillar hairs always hate to eat the leaves. it decided to go to some fresh stuff to eat. Along the way. it has encountered a variety of delicious food at first glance. but when it was reminded to look at a time. only to find those goodies There is absolutely not the case children! If at first you do not see it ...... it would look a! In this highly invasive want. unique design. Trolltech Miaozai book. every page you have yet to explore.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1983
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
October 10, 2013
Another awesome Ruth Brown book! After reading A Dark, dark tale, I fell in love with it, and hoped I'd find some more "dark" stories in the Ruth Brown collection. While this isn't dark in any way, it IS, however, a wonderful story with some unusual and completely unique aspects to it. The story is adorable, the illustrations are so detailed! I love her illustrations! This one was especially neat because the words wrapped around the page and when you turned the picture over, it turned into something else, like an optical illusion! My kids found it fascinating! A wonderful book that's a great addition to any children's collection. I can't wait to read more Ruth Brown!
December 5, 2017
This caterpillar misplaced his hookah.
What on earth? This is an acid trip of a book. It's a series of images that appear different when turned upside-down. So it looks like a basket of fruit when the book is right-side-up, but if you turn it upside-down it kind of looks like a man. It kind of reminds me of Giuseppe Arcimboldo, the painter who made lots of surreal portraits entirely out of fruits, vegetables, flowers, and other things.
The bizarre storyline that's tenuously holding it together is a butterfly telling her caterpillar children (as if butterflies actually raise their young) to eat some leaves, and one caterpillar says, "These are boring! I want something more appetizing!" and goes on a trip to try to eat random things that all turn out to be upside-down creatures of some kind. Like really bizarre, monstrous creatures. And eventually the caterpillar gets exhausted and falls asleep on a scarecrow who looks like some straw from the original perspective, who then puts the caterpillar in his pocket. The caterpillar comes out, falls down, and is afraid of something that turns out to be leeks. He's afraid of something else that turns out to be a butterfly, and then realizes that he himself has turned into a butterfly, and then flies away.
What?! I think the caterpillar did eat something, and I think it was hallucinogenic. Because this book makes very little sense. The story line is bizarre. Caterpillars don't just suddenly turn into butterflies. They have to prepare for it, you know? Become a chrysalis and all? Even if a caterpillar were intelligent, he wouldn't be surprised by the fact that he had turned into a butterfly.
The text layout is interesting in that it goes around all four of the edges of the page, to show you that you need to be turning the book to see the upside-down images. It's an interesting way of bringing the text into the picture-flipping conceit. But the flipped pictures are bizarre and in some cases quite a stretch. Basically, this a book about pareidolia, and seeing faces where there are none. The artist is clearly having fun with that, but it doesn't really make for that interesting of a book. There is no message to this book. It doesn't make any sense.
For more children's book reviews, see my website at http://www.drttmk.com.
What on earth? This is an acid trip of a book. It's a series of images that appear different when turned upside-down. So it looks like a basket of fruit when the book is right-side-up, but if you turn it upside-down it kind of looks like a man. It kind of reminds me of Giuseppe Arcimboldo, the painter who made lots of surreal portraits entirely out of fruits, vegetables, flowers, and other things.
The bizarre storyline that's tenuously holding it together is a butterfly telling her caterpillar children (as if butterflies actually raise their young) to eat some leaves, and one caterpillar says, "These are boring! I want something more appetizing!" and goes on a trip to try to eat random things that all turn out to be upside-down creatures of some kind. Like really bizarre, monstrous creatures. And eventually the caterpillar gets exhausted and falls asleep on a scarecrow who looks like some straw from the original perspective, who then puts the caterpillar in his pocket. The caterpillar comes out, falls down, and is afraid of something that turns out to be leeks. He's afraid of something else that turns out to be a butterfly, and then realizes that he himself has turned into a butterfly, and then flies away.
What?! I think the caterpillar did eat something, and I think it was hallucinogenic. Because this book makes very little sense. The story line is bizarre. Caterpillars don't just suddenly turn into butterflies. They have to prepare for it, you know? Become a chrysalis and all? Even if a caterpillar were intelligent, he wouldn't be surprised by the fact that he had turned into a butterfly.
The text layout is interesting in that it goes around all four of the edges of the page, to show you that you need to be turning the book to see the upside-down images. It's an interesting way of bringing the text into the picture-flipping conceit. But the flipped pictures are bizarre and in some cases quite a stretch. Basically, this a book about pareidolia, and seeing faces where there are none. The artist is clearly having fun with that, but it doesn't really make for that interesting of a book. There is no message to this book. It doesn't make any sense.
For more children's book reviews, see my website at http://www.drttmk.com.
September 24, 2024
It's a story about looking at things from another perspective. (Are you afraid of the thing under the bed? Maybe if you got under the bed, it actually might be a fun place and not so scary.) The caterpillar was surprised by a lot of things which turned out to be not so scary.
At first I was a little confused about what was going on in the pictures. I realized that there must be a reason why the author was making the reader turn the book around to read the lines, so I looked at the pictures upside-down and realized what the caterpillar was looking at.
If you have a problem with the caterpillar becoming a butterfly, there was no indication of how much time passed while the caterpillar was within the scarecrow's pocket.
Fun artwork.
1982 paperback edition
At first I was a little confused about what was going on in the pictures. I realized that there must be a reason why the author was making the reader turn the book around to read the lines, so I looked at the pictures upside-down and realized what the caterpillar was looking at.
If you have a problem with the caterpillar becoming a butterfly, there was no indication of how much time passed while the caterpillar was within the scarecrow's pocket.
Fun artwork.
1982 paperback edition
June 6, 2021
This book is so much fun. You turn it over as you read and as you turn it reveals hidden faces. It tells the story of a little caterpillar and science-wise is up there with The Very Hungry Caterpillar. But for a creative, interesting little book, it's amazing. I can imagine kids getting really excited to find each new face as the book topples and turns. It's really, really fun! This is a book I'd like to share with my grandma. She would've really liked it.
My copy as written in it
To Marty
From, Jim
Merry Christmas 1998
My copy as written in it
To Marty
From, Jim
Merry Christmas 1998
August 5, 2017
nice alternative to Round Trip by Jonas for an optical illusion
November 2, 2017
This is a beautiful drawn and fun book for kids and adults. Found this at a library book sale!
September 21, 2021
عنوان ترجمهٔ فارسی: بخوان، بچرخان، ببین
September 3, 2012
If at First You Do Not See is the story of a (different) hungry caterpillar, looking for food to eat. However, at every turn, his food turns out to be something very different.
The structure and layout has been designed in a very interesting way, which will clearly appeal to younger children. Sentences begin at the bottom of the page and then finish at the top, making the reader rotate the book 360 degrees to read the text. Each time the page is turned 180 degrees, the picture reveals a human form that was unable to have been seen previously. I think any child would become engrossed reading this and desperate for the next page to be turned in order to have their expectations subverted.
This is an excellent book to read to a class of children aged 5-7 learning about the life cycle and growing up as by the end of the story we discover that the caterpillar has turned into a butterfly, and has a different perspective on the world around it.
The structure and layout has been designed in a very interesting way, which will clearly appeal to younger children. Sentences begin at the bottom of the page and then finish at the top, making the reader rotate the book 360 degrees to read the text. Each time the page is turned 180 degrees, the picture reveals a human form that was unable to have been seen previously. I think any child would become engrossed reading this and desperate for the next page to be turned in order to have their expectations subverted.
This is an excellent book to read to a class of children aged 5-7 learning about the life cycle and growing up as by the end of the story we discover that the caterpillar has turned into a butterfly, and has a different perspective on the world around it.
March 21, 2013
2.5 to 3 stars. If at First You Do Not See is a book with a gimmick. See the colorful cat face on the cover? Flip it 180 degrees, and you've got a butterfly. Inside the book baskets of vegetables, hillsides, mushrooms, hamburgers, and bouquets of flowers all turn into other things with a 180 flip of the book. The text of the story runs around the border of the pictures, which encourages the slow shift in perspective. The illustrations are well done and clever, so why the 2.5/3 star rating?
Well, the gimmick loses its zing after the first few pictures, and there really isn't a lot of variety in what is displayed upon the flip of the book. While the kids, my nephew in particular, were tickled with the trick on the first few pages, by the fifth flip or so the appeal was pretty much gone.
Well, the gimmick loses its zing after the first few pictures, and there really isn't a lot of variety in what is displayed upon the flip of the book. While the kids, my nephew in particular, were tickled with the trick on the first few pages, by the fifth flip or so the appeal was pretty much gone.
January 4, 2016
The clever picture book from Ruth Brown relates the travels of an ever-hungry little caterpillar in his quest for something less boring to eat than leaves. Through his journey he encounters some not so friendly characters, though they don't reveal themselves right away. You have to turn the book around as you read it to get the full picture. I've reread this charming story again and again over the years and it never ceases to bring a smile to my face. Most readers will be similarly taken by the illustrations. The story ends on a high note. Ruth Brown is an amazing illustrator, and If at First You Do Not See is a standout among her works.
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March 22, 2011Such a cool book to teach the butterfly life cycle (a second grade standard). I loved teaching the life cycle to my students because it is so unique and there is SO much fantastic literature to supplement it. This book has a creative layout with words bordering the page which makes it fun to read. The illustrations are really eye-catching and portray the life cycle in an interesting and scientific way.
October 18, 2016
This book challenges the readers first perceptions of a picture by showing something completely different if you turn the book upside down. I love how interactive the book is with the writing requiring you to turn the book upside down etc to read it and it really makes you engage with the book. It could be used in science (life cycles), art and more!
October 28, 2012
Fun pictures that need to be turned around to reveal what it really is.
July 19, 2014
This is a pretty neat little book if you are looking for something a little different.
May 2, 2012
Reading Rainbow: Nosey Mrs. Rat
August 19, 2013
at first I thought that this was just a plain book then when I turned it upside down it was magic!
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews