Gallop

Toddlers love books. Until you put the telly on. And that's because they love moving pictures even more than static ones. So thank goodness for Gallop!

This amazing book employs a patented new technology called Scanimation that makes the pictures inside appear to move. No batteries, wires or hidden electronics. It's amazing! Horses gallop, butterflies flutter and turtles swim. Small ones will be completely enthralled; big ones will be completely flummoxed. The effect really has to be seen to be disbelieved.

As well as its mesmerising moving images, Gallop contains charming rhyming questions that toddlers will adore: 'Can you gallop like a horse? Giddyup-a-loo. Can you strut like a rooster? Cock-a-doodle-doo.' It makes other so-called interactive books seem about as entertaining as the phone directory.



So how does Scanimation work? Well although it's a new technology the spamheads over at the Firebox research facility tell us it harks back to techniques used over a century ago. A hidden tab within Gallop's heavy pages slides a striped acetate layer over the images to create the illusion of motion. A bit like when you drive past a picket fence. It's called parallax perception. Or something like that.

But who cares about optical physics? The point is little 'uns will find this wonderful book utterly beguiling. You might have trouble putting it down yourself. We've read through Gallop umpteen times and it still blows us away. In fact, it's guaranteed to become the one book parents can enjoy as much as their nippers. So what are you waiting for? Giddy-up and get ordering!