What Game Shall We Play?
In a delightful reunion of the seven animal friends from Surprise Party (Macmillan, 1986), Hutchins again creates a satisfying tale of anticipation. Frog and Duck want to play but can't think of a game, so they search for Fox to ask for help, and so it goes until the animals seek Owl's advice. In their childlike naivete, they don't realize that Owl has been watching them the whole time, and when he suggests a game of "Hide and Seek," they enthusiastically agree. A simple enough text is made appropriately complicated by the accompanying illustrations. Children will love joining the search for each subsequent animal friend, the tail of which peeks tantalizingly from the corner of the page where the animals are looking. The cumulative and circular design of the text--the last animal found always finds the next one--also gives children reassuring clues to the location of the next animal being sought. The illustrations, although similar to those in Surprise Party , are in fact quite different. This new book is cleaner and crisper, enhanced by the bold black outline on the pictures and splashes of bright blues and purples among the familiar greens, yellows, and browns. Hutchins' skillful use of perspective and line gives the drawings new depth, making her creatures more animated and whimsical, losing the static, flat woodcut quality of her earlier animals. A book that's likely to become a perennial storytime favorite for preschoolers, and fledgling readers will enjoy the large type and limited vocabulary. --Dorothy Houlihan, White Plains Public Library, NYCopyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.