HIDE-AND-SEEK TURKEYS

As much an exercise in sequencing as a counting rhyme, this features ten turkeys trying to jump into increasingly large items of clothing before a fox catches them, e.g., “Five turkeys hid in some britches round. / One more came and it was found, / there was not enough room! / Not enough room / for six turkeys / in those britches round. / So . . . six turkeys hid ’neath a petticoat wide.” Ultimately, a farmer’s arrival sends prey and predator scurrying to find separate hiding places. Martin envisions the characters as children in home-made costumes, galloping enthusiastically through a capacious stage set, held together with liberal amounts of scotch tape. Except for unchallenging hide-and-seek scenes at the play’s open and close, it’s often hard to see exactly how many figures are on stage—still, even younger listeners and onlookers will enjoy all the frantic rushing about as much as the occasionally glimpsed audience seems to, and appreciate the episode’s predictability enough to forgive the rather disconnected plotline. (Picture book. 5-7)