WHERE IS OWL'S SCARF?

Owl searches this lift-the-flap farm for his missing scarf.

“Where can it be? Is it between the branches?” asks the Q-and-A text. Under a flap, readers see the answer, and the text reads: “No! This is Chipmunk, gathering some acorns. Chip! Chip!” The pattern continues on each double-page spread as Owl searches behind bales of hay, pumpkins, corn stalks, garbage cans, and cattails “by the stream” to discover a variety of critters who don’t have his scarf. The missing accessory is finally found around Turkey’s neck. Belloni employs realistic textures in the art to create veined leaves and fuzzy raccoons. However, her cartoons are too stiff at times, and the glitter on Turkey’s feathers and Owl’s scarf in the final image seems an out-of-place gimmick. Some of the flaps offer clues as to which animal is underneath, while others do not, and this lack of consistency is a real liability in a book for this audience.

Board books with flaps and set on a farm have been done more successfully many times before.