Hide & Seek

I have been a fan of Janet Wong since GRUMP. Since reading Grump, I have read several of her other picture books in addition to her poetry books. HIDE & SEEK is a great book whether you're looking for a counting concept book, or a fun story book to read aloud. You might say that this book had me from the very first line...."Cookie time is the perfect time..." in this case, cookie time is the perfect time for a father-son team to play hide-and-seek with the family dog, of course. As the father counts and the son and his dog hide around the house and in the yard, Wong treats us to some wonderful word-pictures as she describes this timeless childhood game. "Hide-and-seek means/ find a fat tree,/ stand behind it/ tall and thin,/ don't scratch,/ don't sneeze--/ hide/ and freeze." As the boy and dog continue to hide, changing locations often since the dog can't keep quiet or still...the fun continues as we count to ten. When the Dad's through counting, the game continues as the boy decides that the perfect time to be "found" is just after the ding of the oven bell has gone off signaling snack time! Hide & Seek is a great book. Both the author, Janet Wong, and the illustrator, Margaret Chodos-Irvine, have done a good job in capturing some of the joys of childhood.