“If you or your child likes the visual mystery of Where’s Waldo? and I Spy, then you may like SteamPotVille by Steve Ouch. Images are stacked on images are nestled in images, and it’s all for the sorting out to solve a mystery. Or is it all to find the many animals on each page? Or is it to go through the book again and make up your own story to go with the images you like best? It’s difficult to tell, and maybe it’s all. For readers who like visual feasts or readers whose story imaginations soar, they will delight in the many rich layers of characters and scenes.

Deep in a burrow a chipmunk robs a bank and a gopher digs for gold. But why are the ferret and dog interested? It’s an opportunity to ask each reader what they think is going on and to make up their own story. At the end of the book, author/illustrator Steve Ouch shows a gallery of all the animals used throughout. This is a wonderful device to take the child through the book again, matching up the animals. It will keep the youngster busy developing their visual detective skills.”

“SteamPotVille” by Steve Ouch (Running Press, $15.95). A picture book for children ages 4-8 about a town of teapot-dwelling animals who get their signals badly crossed one “discombobulated” night. Ouch lives in Seattle.

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“When I was little I loved Richard Scarry books. We’d go through them over and over looking for the little gold bug and having fun seeing what kid of silly things all the residents were up to. It was the first thing I thought of when I opened the first pages of SteamPotVille, the new book from Steve Ouch. Trying to explain this book is near impossible, as it is something you need to experience to fully appreciate.”

Check out the full review at DigitalDads.

“I LOVE Steampotville. It makes me laugh, makes me search for funny things, makes me look for details, and inspires me to create my own Steampotville”

“When we come to the end of the book we are shown a spread with pictures of different animals and are asked to go back through the book and find them. But what my kids were most eager to do was go back through the pages and talk about what they saw: they discussed why the cats might be wearing hats and how the bee had gotten underground. It really opens up the door to creativity and storytelling. School aged children might enjoy taking this a step further and creating their own picture collages, either digitally or with photographs and magazine pictures.”

You can read the full blog post here.

“Steve Ouch creates unique photographic collages where elements are meshed together in an enchanting, higgledy-piggledy way. A peacock might be wearing a tie, a goose riding a unicycle with a puppy, and a camel balancing on top of a cow. You never know what to expect with Steve Ouch!”

Read and love the Hobomama style at her blog.

“The story presents itself in a funny and magical way combining both hand drawn illustrations and photographic pictures to illustrate a rhymed verse throughout the book. The illustrations are bright with unbelievable clarity and depth that captivate the young and old reader alike”

You can read the full review and learn about the Special Spaniels Reading Program here.

“Manipulating digital images of animals in surreal environments, Steve Ouch created the visual wonderland of SteamPotVille, a children’s book with the attention-grabbing power of a magic-eye poster.

While the story of a world turned upside-down is sure to capture any kid’s imagination, it’s the fantastical fish-eye imagery that will keep you (and them) coming back. Each two-page spread is a detail-rich labor of love, with new elements revealing themselves on repeated reads.”

“I seriously think everyone needs to own this book. Every therapist should, every teacher, every parent, every college student, every single person who draws breath…that is how much I adore this!” – Heather from Our Incredible Journey

Thank you for that wonderful goal