THE EASTER EGG IS MISSING!

A trio of children search through egg-shaped board-book pages for a missing Easter egg.

A White tot with shoulder-length red hair, a Black tot with short, curly hair, and a brown-skinned tyke with straight, black hair observe, in the first-person-plural narration, that they have not yet found the golden egg. Readers, however, see it through egg-shaped die cuts that reduce in size as pages are turned. The kids wonder if the egg is in the birdhouse, in the carrot patch, or inside a chocolate bunny. A few more children (racially diverse) join in the hunt along with a yellow chick, a bow-tie–wearing bunny, and other springtime critters. When readers get to the final spread, a gold-foil egg is visible inside the chicken coop—it turns out the chick that has been following along with the children has hidden it there. Companion title The Valentine Is Missing!, also by Platt but illustrated by Anne Passchier, follows a similar premise as racially diverse kids search for their teacher’s missing valentine (she is depicted as a woman of color). Here, a shiny, red heart is visible through the heart-shaped pages. The jewel-toned art style is cheerful, bright, and graphically accessible across both offerings. While the gimmick makes for a playful reading experience for the very young, the hide-and-seek queries may prove confusing to literal-minded toddlers since the object is visible through every hole on the recto.

A die cut above typical holiday board books.