Review - Where's Baby?

Where's Baby?
by Anne Hunter
Date: 2020
Publisher: Tundra Books (NY)
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 40
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

Papa Fox is looking for Baby Fox, who is just out of his sight . . . but not ours! An adorable, interactive read-aloud for fans of Are You My Mother?

In this clever introduction to prepositions, a near-sighted Papa is looking for his baby. Is Baby up in the tree? Is Baby under the log? Is Baby around the corner? Where could Baby be?

Readers will delight in spotting the little fox on every page as Papa wanders the forest, encountering other animals all along the way, but never quite able to spot his own baby. Anne Hunter's delicate and lovely illustrations with their limited palette highlight the humor of this adorable hide-and-seek tale.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

Where's Baby? is about an oblivious fox who's trying to find his offspring. It's not quite clear whether Papa knows Baby is hiding nearby and is just humouring the kid, but in any case, Baby thinks it's quite the clever game, and the reader gets to see their reactions as Papa encounters various creatures that are definitely not a baby fox.

The book does sort of work as an introduction to various prepositions, but little kids will probably be more interested in trying to pick out Baby in each of the illustrations. Sometimes it's obvious... but other times, the little fox is a bit more hidden. The limited colour palette (mainly black and white with a blue sky) is used to great effect, making the orange baby fox stand out.

The story is simple, but I can see this appealing to very young children.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tundra Books (NY) for providing a digital ARC.

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

Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall: 3.17 out of 5