Devine qui fait quoi
By: Gerda Muller
Publisher: Lécole des loisirs, France, 1999 (Our version, "Indovina che cosa succede" from Bababum, 2017)
Format: Paperback
An invisible walk in the snow
It is tempting to say that "Devine qui fait quoi" (which translates to something like "Guess what happens", is a book without words AND without lead characters. That would not be entirely correct though, as the characters, a boy and his dog, are very much present, we just can´t see them in most of the pictures. We learn about them by following in their footsteps in the snow.
First, we se the boy´s footprints inside a house. We follow him to the bathroom, then to the chair where is clothes are laid out and then to the kitchen. From the kitchen he walks out, and his footprints are joined by another set, that of a dog. We follow them around in a series of full spreads, all of idyllic winter landscapes. We see the footprints meet birds, rivers, horses and wheelbarrows. We then follow them back inside, where the boy and his dog have fun in his play boat...and we figure out why that stick was so important.
This charming, little book is made like a puzzle for the reader to figure out. At the endpapers, we see the dog and the boy doing all kinds of activitites, they chase birds, carry wood, eat breakfast, get dressed. By following not only the footsteps, but also all the other visual clues given in the pictures, the reader can place the different activities in the different pictures. A excellent way to develop visual literacy, to train the eye and the patience to spend enough time at each picture in a book to really start the meaning-making process.
This is a rather old book, but it is still in print. A fun book that can also inspire taking a walk outside in the snow to make and look at footprints!
