Every page in this book is cut to a different shape, and the layering is the whole design. A sliver of the next page shows past the edge of the one in front, so a toddler gets a hint of what is coming and starts guessing before the turn. Anticipation is the engine, and it is what keeps a child turning rather than flipping.

Chickens, pigs, cows and the rest of the farm are waiting behind those edges. Alice Beecham keeps the text short enough to chant, so the book runs on the back and forth between the two of you rather than on reading, and there is enough on every page to keep talking about after the animal has been revealed.

The uniquely shaped board pages are also a fine motor exercise wearing a disguise: irregular edges are easier for small hands to catch and separate than a flat stack, so a child turns these pages themselves earlier than they can turn ordinary ones.

For a child who has moved on from board books, Beginners: Horses and Ponies stays with the same animals over 32 pages of photographs and short sentences.