Stop

Roger Olmos is a Spanish illustrator. One of his main works is the silent book Sin Palabras, where he deals with veganism and animal-rights. ISin Palabras displays the harsh reality of the animal industry in an almost poetical way that makes the reader stop to think.​ While Stop is brighter and lighter, a playful and fun book for the youngest children, the artist's love for animals still shines through in his illustrations. All of them are characters with big personalities who enjoys life and interact playfully with each other. There is no set storyline, but plenty of space for all kinds of stories to be told. The illustrations are adjusted to the leporello format in very creative ways, like the way the looong neck of the giraffe is portrayed over four pages. 

 

This book has some similarities with Yipo, another leporello by another Spanish artist, Juan Gedovious. The characters in Yipo  are monsters, but they are also on the move through a leoporello. Both books have the same, brilliant solution of putting the title and necessary text on a box, so that the leporello itself is completely wordless. They also have similar sturdy constructions of high-quality cardboard. Norwegian readers might also get an intertextual reference to Per Dybvig´s success, Vi står i kø, which was published last year. 

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The publishers website recommends "Stop" for 1-3 year olds. I am sure toddlers will love it, but I this book is way too much fun to only use with the smallest children. If given a chance, both older children and adults will enjoy this crazy parade of funny and endearing animals.