Gallop!, by Rufus Butler Seder, is a fun little piece that will have young children moving around as they show off their agility and physically respond to questions like "Can you gallop like a horse?" or "Can you flutter like a butterfly?"

There's not much of a plot here, but that's not the point. It's the lyrical rhyming of the text, the colorful lettering of the print, and most of all, the patented Scanimation® pictures that will have children (and their parents) wanting to read this book again and again. Yes, Scanimation®; it's a technique that optically animates artwork. Thus, as the reader turns a page, the displayed animal moves. I admit it; it had me mesmerized.

Quill says: Out with the old, in with the new. Move over pop-up books. You now have some stiff competition.

This is the second copy of Gallop I have bought as a gift. The first was for a three year old and the second for an expectant mother. Both recipients were equally delighted with the "scanimation" images. I've already preordered Seder's next book and can't wait to show it and read it to a group of middle school children I teach. This is a book everone will enjoy.

I have recently given this book to three parents of small children. Inevitably, both the children and the parents thought it was unbelievably cool. It was a learning experience, as it led to discussions about how the pictures were made to "move." It also held attention for a long time, as it was dynamic. Though children often go through books rather quickly (chewing, ripping, etc), the Gallop book is sturdy enough to stand up to such use better than most. (It will likely last a lot longer than a pop-up book for example.) I have to admit, this book is so neat I bought one for my coffee table!

I love gadgets of all kinds, and when I ran into this delightful book, I got several. My nephews adore it, as has every little one I've given it to among my friends' kids. The motion is an optical illusion created by passing a series of bars across a multi-positional figure. Each phase in the animal's gait is disclosed as the page is turned, creating a sense of movement. Included are a horse running, a rooster walking, a butterfly and eagle flying, turtles swimming, a monkey swinging from vines, and the familiar family dog and cat. They're all delightful. I even kept a book for myself as a coffee table edition.

This is a wonderful book. A keeper. The colors are bright and the animation is awesome.

okay--so maybe this book doesn't have a plot or characters--but my 3 month old loves it! in fact, he actively looks at the movement on the page. this may not be the best most cost-effective read for a 3+ year old--but if you're looking to start a collection for a newborn--buy it. it's definitely visually captivating. this book will take you through the first year, when the other books bore your child to tears. for the youngest babes, gimmicks WORK. hold onto skippy jonjones and caps for sale for the older ones.

All three of my daughters from ages 3 to 7 love this book! (And I do too!) As you turn the pages, the animals pictured move - very realistically. The pictures actually become like little black and white movies. It's low-tech, so no electronics to worry about or anything to break unless you tear up the pages. It's really entertaining, and fun to figure out how it's done. I highly recommend this book for anyone that likes books.

We actually found this book at the library and HAD to buy it for someone so my niece got it for her birthday. It is amazing how all the pictures move. Great book for a little one. It doesn't have push/pulls to break.

This was incredible. My son is 5 and reads much more advanced books, but loved the moving pictures in this one. It ranked right up there with magic! We had tried purchasing him a zoeatrope but it was too much work for him to deal with the slips to put in, this was much nicer for him.

We found this to be a interesting and fascinating book for children.
The animation is really cool.

Unfortunately, our book was damaged a little in shipping. The square on the front of the book was pulled and tore a little. I chose not to return it because of the cost of postage to do that. If it loosens up more we will have to tape it.

This is a cool book! All three of my kids (8, 4 & 2) think it's fun to read. I first saw this book in a Kindermusik class. The teacher read it to the kids and the entire class of 2 and 3 year olds were mesmerized. She had them act out each page and they loved it! We do the same thing at home. This book is requested often to be read and we've had it for several months.

This unique book will having you reading it over and over. As an adult I find it hard to put the book down.
It stays on my coffee table.

WOW! This book was amazing!! Both young and old were mezmerized by the moving pictures!

I bought this book for my fifteen month old about a week ago and we both really enjoy it. The moving images are very cool and eye-catching. The book, itself, is also well-written at about a board book reading level. The exclamations that go with the pictures (giddyup-a-loo, cock-a-doodle doo, roly-poly-pup, pitter-patter-hupp, etc.) are fun and engaging. The text's simple rhymes are also enjoyable and ring true (I hate bad children's literature, especially forced rhymes). I think my son is probably the right age for this book (I would say between one and three) and perhaps the reviewer who found this book boring after the first few reads had an older child who was only interested in the novel images. For the right age group this book has a lot to offer-- hours of lap reading enjoyment.

My son was mesmerized by the unique motion of the pictures in this book, especially if you flap the cover a bit. It was a bit pricey for what's essentially a board book, but I can understand it due to the scanimation.

I also bought this for a friend's kids, and they were fascinated, too!

We checked this out from the library ... it was sitting on a shelf and my 4 year old picked it up and WOW! We were mesmerized! But after getting home and reading it once through to them - I was disappointed in the text. It wasn't a pleasure to read - and I find that really important and I spend nearly all day reading to my 4 children! So while the amazing movement in the book was really cool, I am not sure if I'll be buying this because I don't want it to just take up space on our shelves.

This book is really cool but my 14 month old son doesn't seem to be interested in it. I am still glad I bought it and I bet he'll eventually like it.

Thank Heaven for a book like this in this day of computerized everything. My two year old niece loves it! Money well spent!

My son was given this for his first Christmas by one of his gret grandmothers, not only is it a hit and has been for two years now... but it's also quickly become a family favorite and a book I will keep and pass to his kids as well. You will never regret a single moment of reading this book with your little ones.

My two year old son loves this book! We read it and he laughs out loud. He also likes to make the animals move fast and then slow, giggling the whole time. My four year old daughter is also fascinated by it. I can't wait to buy the next one.

This book is an ingenious application of a simple age old technique. Kids, of all ages will be mezmerized by action found in this book. You do not expect to see animation occuring in the middle of a static page of a paper book, but that's what it does - and you can't help but watch it. My 6 year old and 9 month old love it. When asking my wife if she thought our 3 year old nephew would enjoy it, her response was 'Well, I see a 36 year old who does!' Touché.
You will not be disappointed with this book. Hopefully we will see more editions from this author.

Is this book cool? Only the first few times you look at it. The truth of it is it is a book, and if you judge it by the same standards that you would judge any other children's book such as does it sound great when read aloud? Do you mind the 500th request for the same book? Does that 500th request even happen? then Gallop fails. It couldn't even hold the attention of my 3 year-old son for more than one day. As a full time student I don't have the money to waste on novelty reads; I am looking for solid additions for our book collection and I am afraid Gallop, while clever, just takes up space on our bookshelf. I wish I had checked it out from the library instead of falling for the hyperbolic reviews on Amazon.

This is one of the most amazing children's books I've ever seen. I wouldn't have thought they could still be coming out with "new" things to do with books, but this is amazing! Scanimation makes the pictures look like they're running while you turn the pages. As a mother of 3 children (3 and under) and a librarian, I know that this book receives nothing but high praise in our house and our town!

I bought this book after seeing it #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List. As an elementary school teacher, I think Butler Seder is a genius. Every class I've read this book to has been amazed, almost speechless. I've suddenly become the "best teacher ever" reading "the best book in the world."
Those are exact quotes. It's a truly fascinating book. I hope there's going to be a second Scanimation book.

I just saw this at our local Borders and had to have it! This is one of the most amazing books I have ever seen! I have a 7-year-old and a baby on the way - it is perfect for both! I am substitute teaching right now and plan on bringing this to each of my classes to share with the kiddos. It is really well made, almost like a board book and the pictures move like watching a video. I'm going to look for more books by this author!

I bought this book for my twin grandchildren (2-1/2 years old) and they love it! With its simple words and scanimation pictures they ask me to read it over and over, and they would imitate the animals by acting out the words read, i.e. jumping, galloping, fluttering, soaring. I want to buy a second one so each grandchild has one! I highly recommend this book, without hesitation.

Kids to adults will play with this clever book. Hopefully more books will follow.

I bought this book for my year-old granddaughter, and truth be told, I would like to keep it myself. I am simply amazed at the scanimation. I showed the book to several colleagues at work and they went off and bought it, too. I like how thick the pages are. It feels very sturdy for a little one to read and the scanimation will get her attention.

I first saw this book in Powell's bookstore. Oh My! It is so fun! I have purchased about 10 copies of this book so far, and I don't even have kids. I love watching children of all ages with this book. For the most part, this is the progression I have seen:First, they are happily startled by the movements of animals rushing, galloping, flying, and swimming accross the page. There is usually gasping and chortling in the beginning. This initial response is followed by wonder and curiosity. How does it work? Pages are repeatedly turned at different speeds as the movement is analyzed. Older children and adults often figure out how it works, and then sometimes experiment with creating simple moving pictures of their own. I have used this book with high school students to demonstrate motion and early animation techniques, I have given this to almost every kid I know between the ages of 18 months and 5 years, and I have a copy of my own which I often browse through in a spare moment. I look forward to seeing more books of this type.

I bought two copies of this book - one for my son and one for his friend. The text is for the very young (toddlers and preschoolers), but the very cool moving images will amaze and delight even adults!

I bought this book for my friend to give to her nephew and she had a hard time letting go of it. She (28 years old) spent 15 minutes looking at the pictures over and over again! My mother-in-law even showed this book to her expecting friends. Great book. Pretty accurate too.

Where was this book when I was a kid? Saw it in a bookstore and had to buy it. I wish I could have gotten one for myself. As you turn the pages, the animals kick into gear. Animals in action in a book! Fun. Fun. Fun.

All the reviews tell you that the animated illustrations are very cool and creative in this book. Which is so true! But the text is a simple rhyme describing what each animal does. Since each page asks if you can move like this animal, our grand children became very "animated" as well: they got up and started galloping, fluttering, swinging through the the room. Very cute. An early grade-school student will be able to read this book, making it fun for many age groups. This is a clever & sturdy book. Hopefully there will be more "scanimation" books to come.

Wonderful kids book, great fun for all ages! This is a board book that I would highly recommend for smaller children.

This is the coolest book I've seen in years! I think it's the perfect baby gift and actually even adults loved it! I want to see more of this kind of book!

This is such a fun book for little ones. I collect pop up books, but would never let my 18 month old granddaughter touch them. This book has the fun of "movable" animals without the intricacy of pop up books. The animals appear to run, walk, fly, etc as a grid is pulled over each picture as the page is turned.I highly recommend this book. Several of my friends saw mine and had to order their own.

I bought two copies of Gallop to give as gifts to two young mothers in my family. I thought it would be a fun gift for the kids. When the books arrived, however, I found myself spending long minutes flipping pages and watching the animations, which are truly different from anything else I've seen. By Christmas I had almost decided to give one away and keep the other for myself. This is not your mother's pop-up book! I was compelled by guilt to give the books away, and both sets of parents loved them. The kids--even the infant who is barely focusing at this point--were fascinated by the motion of the pictures. Adults in the room took turns examining, speculating, and in the end losing themselves in the technology and the sheer fun of it. I have no doubt that this book will become a classic and will draw generations of children into both the world of animals and the love of books. A bit of a plot added to the technology would make this book a favorite of children of all ages, but as it stands it suits the infant and toddler levels. I predict it will become as much a childhood icon as Pat the Bunny. I hope Rufus Seder is planning more scanimation books with older toddlers and small children (and their parents!) in mind.

Great book. My 3 1/2 year grandson loves it. Local county librarian showed it to me.

As many others have said, this is a truly unique book. The words are fine.. it's the moving pictures that are really amazing. Something to take a child's mind off of TV for those who are not that into books, and a great novelty for those who are. If you are buying a gift for someone who really likes unique, more old-fashioned toys, this is a great option. Even though it's not exactly "old-fashioned" it appeals to that same sort of exploration and wonder. Adults will enjoy looking through it as well. I guarantee you, this is a gift that no one will return! We thought it was too cool when grandma brought it!

This book is amazing: it uses the principles behind the old kinetoscopes along with a striped acetate overlay to produce lifelike movement as you open each page. Buy two--someone in your house is going to want to tear it apart to see how it works!

When I picked up "Gallop!" today I found it very hard to put down. Other reviews have used the word "amazing" and I have to agree heartily. At a time when kids need batteries to make every toy run, it's great to see animation that is kid powered. I hope to see the Scanimation technology in more books. My only concern is for the durability of the book. Only time will tell.

This book is amazing! It's an ordinary book but, there is a 'movie' on each page. The book shows a moving horse, dog, cat, rooster, butterfly, bird, turtle, etc. It's almost like the books from the Harry Potter movies that had moving pictures, but this is in black and white. It's absolutely fascinating to look at and it has big colorful words --perfect for my 3 yr old.

This book is delightful and intriguing! Based upon a very small statistical sampling(!), it seems that adults like it more than small children, perhaps because adults expect to be able to 'figure out' how the pictures can move via the technology being used -- while small children live in a world that they do not expect to understand fully.

It seems as if the technology should generate no more than two images for each page -- too few to create the 'experience' of a mini-movie, but somehow it works. The movement looks like old-fashioned nickelodeon-type movies, or when the author has put an evolving picture on the outside edge of the pages of his book, and you thumb through the page to see the 'monkey climb the tree' (or whatever is displayed).