--Received as part of librarything's early review program--
This book is simply lovely; evocative illustrations make it easy to tell a different story every time (but I'm worried about the dog in the boat) ( )

Co-creators and artists Anne-Margot Ramstein and Matthias Arégui, who previously collaborated on Before After, join forces again in this wordless picture-book exploration of the concept of inside and outside. Each two-page spread features a vividly colorful illustration of something "inside" on the left-hand side, and something "outside" on the right. The artists play around with the contrast they are drawing, with inside scenes sometimes not being what one would expect - with the snow globe, for instance, inside and outside feel inverted - or the outside scenes revealing something humorous about the inside, as when the truck driving through a deserted landscape is revealed to be holding up a long line of cars...

Originally published in Frances as Dedans Dehors, this visually stimulating and intellectually engaging look at supposedly oppositional concepts is a pleasure to peruse. Its large dimensions - it is considerably taller than your average picture-book - make Inside Outside a volume a child would enjoy poring over. As mentioned, I found a number of the inside-outside pairs quite interesting, in unexpected ways which I greatly appreciated. The artwork is colorful and appealing, although it sometimes had a flat quality that was off-putting to me. I always found the illustrations here interesting, but there were times where I wished they had more depth to them, visually. I think it is that feeling which makes this one more of a three-and-a-half-star title, rather than a four-star one. However that may be, this is one I would recommend to fans of wordless and/or more conceptual picture-books. It isn't a story, but it is quite engaging all the same. ( )

Beautifully illustrated wordless book all about point of view. The pictures are paired so you have the perspective of what is going on 'outside' vs. 'inside.' The pairings are at once logical and inventive: A rocky hole in a grassy field/ a crystal cave, the view from a truck's cab/ an arial shot of a line of cars winding through a desert mesa, a beating heart/ a group of bungee jumpers on a bridge, and so on. This is a great book to share as a reader can discuss with a partner the connections between each pairing. This is very original and creative.

Wow!! I'm SO glad I was selected to receive this book through the LT Early Reviewers program.

It may well be one of my new favorite wordless books-- my 3yo son was with me when I initially opened it, and we've talked through it several times since. Definitely a wordless book that offers plenty of opportunity for conversation, "Inside Outside" certainly warrants repeated readings.

It also asks something of the reader: some of the two-illustration sets are not even immediately apparent as to what they are-- or which one is "inside" and what exactly is "outside" ;)

Pay close attention, and you'll be rewarded! You'll also get to the last page and be almost unable to turn back through it again immediately. While at first this book appears to be a collection of random inside/outside pairings with subtle humor throughout, a surprise "ending" asks the reader to rethink whether there may be an overarching narrative after all. Recommended!

I was a little disappointed with the actual contents of the book versus the cover. The pictures are very basic (simple? but at the same time oddly detailed), and at times I didn't actually know what I was looking at until I used the context clues. Maybe that's the point? It just wasn't for me. It could count as a very advanced concept book.

Completely wordless, it depends on art to explain what is going on. While that does do what it's supposed to, it just wasn't what I was expecting based on the great product description. ( )