Knock! Knock!

Having arrived home, a girl can’t find her stuffed bear, so she starts checking in with her upstairs neighbors. By lifting postcard-size panels vertically and horizontally, readers expand the book dramatically, scaling the girl’s apartment building alongside her. Black and white panels show the girl knocking on apartment doors, while flipping each “page” reveals the rooms and their occupants. A Japanese tengu figure watches TV with his family in #301, Santa appears to have a pied-à-terre in #502, and the sixth-floor apartments host a forest and an underwater landscape— a typical building this is not. Once the girl finds her bear on the roof, a long descending staircase unfolds, bringing her back to her cozy bedroom. While a bit unwieldy, it’s truly an out-of-the-box reading experience, and well worth the effort. Ages 3–8. (Apr.)