Review - Hide-and-Seek: A First Book of Position Words

Hide-and-Seek: A First Book of Position Words
by R. D. Ornot
illustrated by Sakshi Mangal
Date: 2019
Publisher: Kids Can Press
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

In this fun, interactive game of hide-and-seek, young children learn all about positional prepositions. Bear, Fox and Owl are playing hide-and-seek in a woodland playground. They each take a turn counting to ten, then shouting "Ready or not, here I come!" When Fox finds Bear INSIDE the castle and Owl ON the slide, Bear hugs Fox and Owl. When Owl spots Bear BEHIND the climbing wall and Fox UNDER the bench, Bear hugs Fox and Owl again! But when Fox and Owl are not BETWEEN the swings, AMONG the trees, THROUGH the tunnel or ACROSS the bridge, Bear is the one who needs a hug. Will Fox and Owl come out of hiding to help their friend?

Preschoolers will love joining in with the repetitive counting and calling out the familiar "Ready or not, here I come!" This is a perfect, playful picture book for storytime. It's also a lively concept book that will help children develop early language skills. It will inspire children to look for their own hiding spots under, behind or between things. Sakshi Mangal's adorable illustrations bring the characters and the loving bond they share to life with humor and a light touch. The characters' interactions offer a positive, reassuring message of caring for friends, terrific for encouraging strong personal development.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

This is a cute picture book that teaches positional prepositions while telling the story of three animal friends playing hide-and-seek. The premise is strong, and the concepts are pretty clear. Each time a character hides, the others go looking for them UNDER, BESIDE, INSIDE, OVER, etc. The illustrations clearly show the meaning of each of those words.

The pictures are simple, but cute and effective. I think the main issue I have with this book is that there appears to be a page missing. Each of the three animals takes a turn at counting and seeking, but when it's Owl's turn to count, we only see the second half of his count. The page that should be there (if it's consistent with the other two seekers) would read, Owl counts. "1, 2, 3, 4 ..." Unfortunately, this page appears to be missing. (I am reading an ARC, so hopefully this will be fixed in the final edition.)

Aside from the missing page, I think this is a great book for teaching positional prepositions. It's clear, it's enjoyable to look at, and it makes it fun to search for the characters as they hide (you can just see them, if you look closely).

Thank you to NetGalley and Kids Can Press for providing a digital ARC.

Premise: 4/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 3/5
Illustrations: 3/5
Originality: 4/5

Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall: 3.33 out of 5