If only all birthdays could be so much fun and for the reader, they can be, with each new expedition through this book. What a memorable search it is, with a nice payoff at the end when we discover what Tim is getting for his birthday. His present can be found by following a series of clues that take him out into the deep, dark night, through a bat-filled cave, down an underground walkway, and finally to the location of his birthday gift. The night before Tim's birthday, he finds a note and coded instructions waiting on his bed. Pages of drastically differing shape and size harmoniously layer one atop the next as the story progresses toward its final reveal. The esteemed author-illustrator of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Grouchy Ladybug, and Hello, Red Fox has created another picture book of operatic proportions in The Secret Birthday Message, an innovative piece comparable to the offerings of Simms Taback and Laura Vaccaro Seeger. One could reasonably say Eric Carle's work is the professional opera of the children's book world: stories that usually don't proceed in linear fashion, but with stunning visuals and lavish production values.
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