Rating: 4 stars
I really relish the moments when my older kids come sit with me and Kiefer and read with us. Often they show him parts of a book that he has not seen before. Sometimes they show me parts of a book that I have not seen before.
Kiefer is almost 2 1/2, and he's just getting into look-and-finds, a category of books with which Ben was obsessed. Whereas look-and-finds that I've seen dozens of times before are pretty tedious, a new one brings a fresh challenge. There can be something really fun about it.
That's how it was with Hide & Seek. I first read the book to Kiefer and we both liked it: A simple tale where some animal friends play hide and seek. Elephant counts while his friends all run and hide. The illustrations are bright and whimsical, the animals are each playful and unique. Elephant finds them all, except chameleon. Chameleon finds them.
It wasn't until Ben came to sit with us that I realized that the sly, clever Chameleon is hiding in each page. Il Sung Na colors his skin in a bunch of fun, interesting ways, allowing him to camouflage himself perfectly. So, on another read of the book, Ben and Kiefer and I also hunted for Chameleon. The three of us had a great time silently looking, pointing quietly at the little lizard when we found him in an encouraging oh-good-job-Kiefer way, rather than a competitive I-found-it-first-ha! way.
It was just one of those sweet moments on the sofa with both my boys and one good book.
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