Five Little Monkeys Play Hide-and-Seek
PreSchool-K–Those naughty monkeys are back, and this time they're tormenting their baby-sitter. Mama's instructions are clear: "Lulu's the sitter./You'd better be good./No tricks! No silliness!/Is that understood?" They promise to behave and invite Lulu to be "it" for a game of hide-and-seek. She counts to 10 and quickly finds the little monkeys concealed in various spots around the living room. They beg for one more round, Lulu counts to 24, and her charges slip out into the yard, where she swiftly uncovers them. Finally, she counts to 124, and this time, Lulu can't locate them, and she's really worried. However, Mama peeks in the window as she comes home and sees them in the one place that never occurred to the baby-sitter–their own beds. The simple and colorful pen-and-ink and gouache artwork will be familiar to readers of Christelow's earlier books about these mischievous animals. The energetic illustrations work well with the overall mood of silliness. In addition to searching the pictures for the missing monkeys, children will enjoy the repetitive, rhyming nature of this story and will join in on the counting. A delightful choice for a group setting or for one-on-one sharing.–Roxanne Burg, Orange County Public Library, CACopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.