Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Who's Hiding? and Who Is Driving?


After reading a couple very positive reviews of Who's Hiding? by Saturo Onishi, I purchased it for my almost three year old. He loves puzzles and games so I thought he would enjoy this book. In fact, he loves it. He has almost memorized the book yet we still find new games and things to look for with each new reading. For those who have not seen this book yet, each page has the same grid of animals and in each page you must look for who's hiding or who has horns, etc. The last spread is a challenge to kids and adults when all animals are hiding in the dark and all the viewer can see are the whites (and heights, which can be helpful) of their eyes.
In a recent trip to the bookstore I found a book that had a similar theme. Who is Driving? by Leo Timmers showcases a different car and several animals in various clothes on each page. The reader must decide who is driving each vehicle based upon their clothes. For example, in the case of a fire truck you must look for the animal dressed in fireman's clothes. On the next page spread you see the correct animal driving their car complete with a Vroom! and Tak, tak, tak. I must admit that some choices confused me, but in most cases the choices made sense. The illustrations are the definite winner in this book. They are bright, appealing, and humorous. As School Library Journal stated:

The vivid acrylic illustrations in primary colors have a three-dimensional look and will delight toddlers, although they might not be able to match all the drivers and their vehicles without a little help.
Ha! See! It wasn't just me.

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