Pull the flap, turn the wheel, push the handle, and pull an alligator's tongue to reveal the opposite of concepts such as shut, dry, full, new, and many more. Each page is a block of color with a concept highlighted while the opposite is ingeniously shown by the action of the reader. Kids will delight in turning on an "off" television, creating old jeans from new, and making a roller coaster go up and down. Sheer fun on every page.

26. WINTER'S TALE: AN ORIGINAL POP-UP JOURNEY
By Robert Sabuda
Little Simon, $26.95; Ages 3 and Up; ISBN: 0689853637

The sparkly white winter landscape is brought to great life with intricate and simply beautiful pop-ups of forest animals, waterfalls, and a great horned owl and a story narrated by a visitor to the forest. Two pop-ups are found on each double-page spread -- one large unfolds magnificently at the turn of the page, while another surprise is hidden behind a flap. When the storyteller returns to his home, a surprise like no other seen before in a pop-up book awaits readers when they pull the last flap. Exquisite.