Hide-and-Seek Monsters

Annemarie Riley Guertin is the author of several books for children. Her titles include How the Finch Got His Colors, Why Evergreens Keep Their Leaves, The Monsters on the Broom, and ABC, Rise Up and Be! Annemarie works as a high school early education CTE teacher in Methuen, Massachusetts. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband, Michael, and their two children. Hannah Wood is from England but grew up in the Netherlands and Norway. She returned to England to study politics and history at university until the moment she finally saw the light and, after a spell as a graphic designer, followed her first love—illustration. Hannah’s illustration styles and techniques are always evolving.

Children will probably be delighted as they lift the flaps to find what is covered. The rhyming lines of text invite the children to look for monsters and what creatures (goblins, mummy, ghosts to name a few) lurk behind the flaps. Each colorful layout has 2-3 flaps to lift. In one of the outdoor settings, the flaps are a toadstool, tree trunk, and log. Indoors in the kitchen setting, the cabinet, trash can and cake are the flaps. The transition and sequence from the settings could flow smoother (for example, by using text or foreshadowing) to assist in understanding if the rooms are all a part of one house or two. The setting starts from the outdoors, moves to the interior of a room and then, to a kitchen. From the kitchen, the next setting is outside to view the exterior of a haunted house on a hill. From the haunted house, it moves to a living room, hallway, bedroom, and back outside. This title is not necessarily a Halloween story; it is a book for exploring and looking for monsters that are hiding in the scenes. Teachers and parents may find this book to be helpful in engaging children to interact with this board book with lift-and-look flaps.