Hide & Seek

by Il Sung Na

Overview

As Elephant counts from one to ten, all the animals find special places to hide. When it's time to seek, will he be able to find everyone . . . even Chameleon?

Like Na's previous books, Hide & Seek offers rich illustrations, bright colors, and a simple, spare text—all wrapped up in a beautiful kid-friendly package. Elephant counts from one to ten in big, bold numerals, and there's an additional butterfly on each spread, giving readers something to count as the story goes along. Kids will also love spotting the camouflaged chameleon on every page!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780307974600
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	06/12/2012
Sold by:	Random House
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	42 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	2 - 5 Years

About the Author

Originally from Korea, IL SUNG NA studied illustration at Kingston University in London. A Book of Sleep was his first picture book, followed by The Thingamabob and Snow Rabbit, Spring Rabbit, all of which are available from Knopf. To learn more about Il Sung Na and his work, please visit IlSungNa.com.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews, February 15, 2012:
“Ready or not! Here comes a book worth finding.”

Starred Review, Booklist, June 1, 2012:
“With a glorious color palette and an accessibly-presented topic, this will be a sure hit with preschoolers.”

Review, The New York Times Book Review, June 3, 2012:
“A stress-free chance for younger preschoolers to brush up on their numbers, while the images’ wildly shifting perspectives make a trip through these pages a kind of visual roller-coaster ride.”

Editorial Reviews

The elephant's count is a stress-free chance for younger preschoolers to brush up on their numbers, while the images' wildly shifting perspectives make a trip through these pages a kind of visual roller-coaster ride.
—The New York Times Book Review

Leonard S. Marcus

Kirkus Reviews Best of Children's Books 2012

Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews, February 15, 2012:
“Ready or not! Here comes a book worth finding.”

Starred Review, Booklist, June 1, 2012:
“With a glorious color palette and an accessibly-presented topic, this will be a sure hit with preschoolers.”

From the Publisher

PreS—The illustrations in Hide & Seek are colorful, beautiful, and unique. The story line is simple and sweet, and readers will like counting to 10 with Elephant until he is ready to find his friends. This book would be enjoyable for one-on-one sharing, so children can pore over the distinctive art and look for the hidden animals. The friends are very easy to find, except Chameleon. Preschoolers will delight in the fanciful illustrations and want to participate in the counting down and play hide-and-seek. A lovely addition to most collections.—Kathy Buchsbaum, Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library, New York

School Library Journal

Expert hide-and-seekers will hear the hushed scuttles and feel the quickened pulses as a group of animals plays a rainforest game of hide-and-seek. Elephant counts while his animal friends scurry. Butterflies flutter around the crouching little elephant, a new one joining in with each page-turn, adding up to a swarm that equals each giddy announcement: 1, 2, 3! Meanwhile, flamingo, chameleon, giraffe, rhino, monkey, tortoise, the starlings and bush babies hasten to get hidden. Momentum mounts as readers alternate between an animal wondering, for example, "Can I hide behind this rock?" (on left-hand pages) and the elephant's' escalating counting (on the right). Na also directs readers' eyes up into the canopy and down into the underbrush, where creatures look for cover, getting them to crane their heads and look at the forest from every angle. Text size swells and reduces, indicating emphasis, and keeps the antsy energy going. Digital layering produces a fantastic fusion of painterly textures, soft patterns and fine outlines, yielding ethereal illustrations with dappled colors that shine like light through a leaf. So many undulating components could easily turn into roiling confusion on the page, but here each element coheres beautifully, rendering a sweetly swirling, tie-dyed rainforest awash in reds, yellows, greens and blues. Ready or not! Here comes a book worth finding. (Picture book. 2-5)

Kirkus Reviews