WHERE'S BABY?

In a hiding game led by Baby Fox, Papa Fox searches the forest for his little one but neglects to look in one obvious place.

Not finding his offspring indoors in their den, Papa Fox asks Mama where Baby might be, and she responds: “Why, Baby must be somewhere, Papa Fox.” Papa heads out to find Baby and looks in, over, under, down, up, and around, encountering owl, skunk, bear, mouse, toothy fish, and bull—but no Baby Fox. Disheartened, Papa says, “Mama Fox, I can’t find Baby anywhere.” She responds knowingly, “Have you looked behind you, Papa Fox?” Readers will have seen that Mama has been in on the joke all along if they noticed, early on, Mama waving goodbye to Baby, who is quietly following Papa as he sets off on his search. The text is entirely composed of dialogue in speech balloons. Graceful, finely sketched pen-and-pencil drawings, primarily in black and gray against a pale blue backdrop, complement this exercise in identifying prepositions. Kids will play along with Baby, easily spotting his pointy ears and rusty-orange body, which pops against the otherwise muted palette. Reunited with Papa, Baby Fox asks, “Can we do that again?”—encouraging multiple readings of this amusing story.

Fun and instructive, this forest frolic will have kids eager to play along.