Margot the Groundhog gets an unexpected visitor: Marie the little girl from Belgium she met last year. This year Marie has even brought her sister, Lowieske, to visit during the Ice Hockey world cup, where they will all support Canada.

The cover isn’t promising, with two children photoshopped over a photo of a groundhog, but it does the job. The book has an unusual layout, which causes some problems. Each page has a full-colour wildlife photograph, carefully faded in places to allow the words to show up clearly. It is a beautiful and artistic effect, and an unusual one for a children’s book. Unfortunately it is somewhat let down by the photoshop used to insert the girl’s pictures, which are low-res and have occasionally jagged and blurred edges. Some of the images, like the groundhog with glasses or scuba mask will appeal to children.

The writing is simple, ideal for young children and early readers, but the text is part of the image and not resizeable so it may be easier if someone reads it to them. In places the dark grey text is still harder to read against the text, and I am curious about whether this book would display on an e-ink reader.

There is nothing wrong with the story itself, which is great for kids, but the presentation needs a little work to improve readability.