I Feel a Foot! by Maranke Rinck

I Feel a Foot! Reviews

• 
  Belinda Vlasbaard

  4,5 sterren - Nederlandse hardcover
  
  In samenspraak met blinde kinderen en hun onderwijzers in India en Nederland kwam deze bijzondere editie van Ik voel een voet! tot stand.
  
  Het verhaal sluit precies aan bij de ervaringswereld van een blind kind, dat, net als de dieren in het boek, voelend en luisterend de wereld ontdekt. Deze uitgave is niet alleen voorzien van braille, ook de illustraties zijn omgezet in een tactiele ervaring.
  
  Daarbij is gebruikgemaakt van materialen die zoveel mogelijk aansluiten bij dat wat een blind kind ervaart. Zo zijn tekst én prenten voelend te ervaren.
  
  Ook voor slechtziende en ziende kinderen is dit boek bijzonder: de gebruikte materialen zijn mooi en fel gekleurd. Van dit boek kunnen ziende en blinde kinderen samen genieten, en daaraan blijkt in de praktijk grote behoefte te zijn.
  
  Bij de publicatie van de tactiele editie van Rupsje Nooitgenoeg is bovendien gebleken dat dit boek veel gebruikt wordt in het onderwijs aan autistische kinderen.
  
  Naar dependance huisbibliotheek AZC
• 
  Tasha

  This is a clever new take on the Blind Men and the Elephant story. Here, five animals come across something strange on a dark night. Turtle thinks it is a huge turtle because of the foot. Bat thinks he feels a huge bat wing. Octopus feels a long tentacle. Bird feels a beak. And finally Goat discovers a large goatee. By the end, children will have figured out the animal easily, but the five animal friends are all surprised to find an elephant!
  
  The text and illustrations work perfectly together here. The text is simple and great fun, though the tale has a timelessness about it, the text and dialogue have a modern, up-beat feel. The illustrations really shine, especially against the dark background. The colors are vivid and pop right off the page. This is a perfect story time read for a large group because they will be caught in the mystery at first and the illustrations will project well to a big audience.
  
  Highly recommended for story times, this would be a wonderful addition to elephant, turtle, bat, or even octopus themed programs! Appropriate for ages 3-6.
  
  
  
• 
  Heidi-Marie

  It's the Seven Blind Mice, only with a very odd mix of tiny characters whose intense, um, colorings make me wonder how the illustrations were created. (The info. was not given in this case.) A translation from Dutch. But still a cute story and might make for a good storytime read. Definitely a fun lapsit read. Good, accurate description on the cover: 5 creatures feel their way through this silly adventure. But honestly--turtle, bat, octopus, bird, and goat? While, yes, I love turtles and goats and think bats and octopi are pretty neat as book characters--it's still a pretty odd combo. But then when you see what they associate of themselves with the mysterious creature, it makes hilarious sense. And I loved the ending. So while parts of it were OK, or I've seen done before, or were a little annoying with some of the repetitiveness, the overall cuteness of it made it very enjoyable for me.
  
  And, yes, the reason I grabbed it off the New Book Display was because the illustration of the turtle on the cover was just too much for me to pass up.
• 
  Jess Brown

  This is a nice folktale, perfect for a younger group (sometimes I'm searching desperately for a picture book version of a folktale that little ones can actually sit through and enjoy). This will really tease the kids imaginations and get them thinking as they try to figure out (along with turtle, bat, bird, goat, and octopus) what large creature is stalking their woods in the night. Kids will love guessing what it is, and the pictures are drawn well enough that they just might figure it out before you get to the end. I love that this book always sets you up to ask the kids questions and for all of you to ponder and wonder and guess together! Older kids won't be impressed because they'll figure it out quickly, but preschoolers and kindergartners are sure to enjoy it!
• 
  Ashley

  What a creative book! This international book, originally published in the Netherlands, could be translated and work in most countries, due to its simplicity. It's a fun, predictable read aloud in which 5 animal friends try to figure out what they are feeling in the darkness.
  I love the illustrations by Martijn van der Linden. Their originality and the use of intricate patterns were eye-catching. All of the animals vibrant colors stand out on the black background of each page. You feel as if you are spying on something you shouldn't really see because it is dark.
  I think my students would get a kick out of this story!
• 
  Mehsi

  A bit silly of a story, but also really fun to read.
  
  Though I found it a bit of a strange combination of animals. Especially the octopus was a bit weird to have in the group.
  
  But as soon as they wake up and meet the mysterious beast that woke them, you know why these creatures are all together. Every one of them as something that in total makes up one creature.
  
  I loved the ending, that is one very strong hammock. :)
  
  The illustrations were really, well interesting and colourful. But also a bit strange to see creatures with various patchworks with colours and shapes.
  
  But I would recommend this fun book to everyone, kids especially will love it.
  
• 
  Angela

  Normally, I prefer colorful illustrations on a white background, but this book struck my fancy all the same. The lively illustrations on black make this book special and the story is a real treat, too. When I read this book aloud during storytime, the kids kept guessing that what the animals are feeling in the darkness were their "mothers"--which was interesting from a psyh/socio perspective, but I think adults will solve the mystery much quicker. Everyone will be mesmerized by the vibrant pictures and hammock-sleeping quirky animal characters this book presents so beautifully.
• 
  Nesa

  I read this book with my 2nd grade group and they loved it. (So did I.) It is almost on par, in my opinion, with Ed Young's Seven Blind Mice. Young's book, though, has the slight advantage because he is able to incorporate several lessons including the days of the week, colors and numerical order.
  The lack of these lessons, however are not missed in Rinck's offering because, the story is fast paced and the artwork quite delightful. I think that this would be a great addition to any Elephant story time/hour.
• 
  babyhippoface

  This is a really nice retelling of the old story "The Blind Men and the Elephant." Animals are featured rather than humans, and they each feel a part of the elephant that echoes a part of their own body (bird feels the tusk and thinks it's a giant beak, goat feels the tail and thinks it's a giant goatee). There's humor injected into the story as well, which is part of the reason it's enjoyable. The illustrations are also colorful and inviting.
• 
  Tim Protiva

  Five animal friends, awakened by a strange noise, discover a creature in the dark that seems to be a giant-sized version of each of them- or is it? The dramatic artwork features outlined, colorful collage pieces set against a black background. There is also a great use of patterns, especially as each animal imagines the image of the large mystery animal. A god way to introduce a simple folklore like tale to a preschool group.
• 
  Roy

  A puzzle, a mystery, and a lushly illustrated tale all wrapped into one. Everyone's perceptions are colored by their own personal perspective, which is an interesting concept for any book to cover, and a delightfully surprising one to be taught by a children's book. Apparently this story is a retelling of an old classic, but it was new to me so I was as charmed by it as my daughter.
• 
  Jenna

  I Feel a Foot! is an excellent and short read. I thoroughly enjoyed this small adventure. The author creates the perfect situations for questions and prediction. Along with that, there is also charm and tone. At first, the story is on the mysterious side, but then slowly escalates to humor and fun. One of my favorites!
• 
  Dawn

  This story made my day. It's a comedic spin on the old Indian folktale of the Blind Men and the Elephant. I actually enjoyed this version much better. "What we have here is a whopper of a Tur-Bat-Octo-Bird-Goat!" Good book for storytime to enlist the help of all to identify what this animal could possibly be as well as talk about the different body parts of this huge animal.
• 
  Tara

  This is based on a proverb or a fable, but I can't remember which culture it came from. The author doesn't bring that up! The best part is the pictures! Each character has a pattern that is very cute!
• 
  Beth

  The illustrations were really what made this book for me. The story is familiar from Ed Young's "Seven Blind Mice," bit the twist of having several different animals was a good one. It's a great storytime book, and the illustrations really are marvelous.
• 
  Meredith

  This book is very fun, and the idea is clever, but it was a bit too easy to figure out. Most of the kids guessed the big reveal long before we reached the end. They did enjoy being smarter than the book characters though.
• 
  Janet

  An odd pairing of five animals who hear something in the night and each animal thinks the unknown is just like them, The total black pages are great to depict the night and the bright stained glass look of the animal illustrations is very different.
• 
  Josie B.

  A retelling of the Indian parable blind men and the elephant with different animals identifying the parts of the elephant, this book is too long for most of my storytime classes. It would be great retold as puppet show or with 4 and 5 year olds.
• 
  Sunnyvale Librarian

  In this retelling of The Blind Man and the Elephant five animal friends in the dark of night each touch a part of "an amazing superduper" creature. What is this creature? Children will have fun suggesting their own ideas as hints are given in the colorful collage artwork.
• 
  Denise

  The illustrations make this book especially unique. It has a surprise ending kids will like to guess. I would use this for storytime with older preschoolers.
• 
  Amy (Bossy Bookworm)

  Henry likes this one.
• 
  Kelly

  I love the illustraions!
• 
  Amy Brown

  Five animals try to guess what creature is out there hiding in the dark. Similar to Seven Blind Mice by Ed Young.
• 
  Tattered Cover Book Store

  Imaginations run wild among friends. What is that rustling in the dark? Join in the fun and guess!
• 
  N

  The first page ist clever! It's all black, except for text in white saying, "I feel a foot"
  
  
• 
  Lori

  Similiar to 7 Blind Mice. Fun story about perception and the importance of seeing the whole picture.
• 
  Erin Darmody

  Love the art. There are patterns in the shapes of the animals but the story plan is the best. Somehow these random animals are best of friends and they have to figure out the animal they find in the dark. Of course they all think it resembles themselves but it turns out to be a collection of them. Ambiguity
• 
  Laura van der Ploeg

  Erg leuk boek waarbij de kinderen kunt laten voorstellen om welk dier het gaat. De tekeningen en het gebruik van kleuren van dit boek vind ik prachtig!