Windblown

French author/illustrator Manceau makes his English-language debut with a cumulative story whose bare-bones simplicity and audience engagement call to mind Hervé Tullet’s Press Here. A small gray-blue circle appears against a field of white on the opening spread (“One tiny scrap of paper...”); it’s soon joined by larger blue and orange semi- and quarter- circles, a red blob, and a few other circles. “Where did they come from? Whose are they?” asks the text. “They’re mine!” shouts a chicken, as the shapes join together to form its head (black lines fill in other details). “No, they’re mine!” responds a fish on the next page, made up of the same reconfigured shapes (the orange quarter-circle changes from beak to tail, the red blob from cockscomb to fin). The shapes create a bird, snail, and frog on later pages, with the animals all claiming ownership of the bits of paper. The wind puts the debate to rest, and invites readers to take part (the shapes are available for download online): “They’re yours now too. What will you do?” A surefire inspiration for imagination-fueled projects at school or at home. Ages 3–7. (Apr.)