FOR THE YOUNG ONES

THE 1000 DOT-TO-DOT BOOK: ANIMALS BY: THOMAS PAVITTE PUBLISHER: HUMAN & ROUSSEAU PRICE: R165

It’s just after sunset on day 1 of the trip. Mom and Dad want to put their feet on a log and listen to the nightlife of the bush come alive. But down in the kids’ dome tent the cacophony of music videos from tablets and cellphones just won’t stop. Dad could charge in there and lock up every single electronic device in the bakkie, but who’s got the energy for a backseat full of sullen teenage faces for an entire holiday? If Dad’s smart, he makes the tactical move and quietly drops Thomas Pavitte’s 1000 Dot-to-dot book: Animals through the zip. It’s just like those old dot-to-dot tracing books you might remember from your early school days, where you had to link a series of dots or numbers with a pencil to form a picture. The difference is that Pavitte’s designs contain up to 1 000 points per illustration. The results are beautiful, intricate animal drawings that look like they were done by a professional artist, with three-dimensional depth, shadow and loads of artistic detail.