Stop! Go!: A Book of Opposites by Brian Biggs, and: 1 2 3 Beep Beep Beep!: A Counting Book by Brian Biggs (review)

Biggs brings his Everything Goes picture book series to an even younger audience with this pair of concept board books. 1 2 3 organizes types of vehicles as it counts from one to ten: one bus, two RVs, five taxis, etc. Stop! Go! uses vehicles to demonstrate contrasts: Quick Rick’s race car zooms past the man on a bicycle, illustrating fast and slow; the rag roof on a convertible is off in the sunshine and on when the rain moves in; the loud ice cream truck is shushed by a mom who wants some quiet for her baby in a buggy. Set against solid backgrounds of candy apple reds, lime greens, and light oranges, Biggs’ signature bubbly, balloon-like illustrations are not quite as busy as in his other books but still pack plenty of visual detail. Clowns cram into a compact car; dogs and pigs ride shotgun in cars and trucks; granny’s on a motorcycle; a cat is the sole passenger in a taxi. In a clever bonus few board books deliver, each title’s plot comes around full circle at the end: the fedora-wearing bird depicted on the advertising of “1 bus” ends up causing an actual traffic jam as he strolls across an intersection in 1 2 3, and the low rider that blows a stop sign on the cover of Stop! Go! catches the attention of a policeman in a patrol car on the final spread. Don’t be surprised if older siblings volunteer for readaloud duty with this set on hand.