more hide and seek

Where Did Josie Go? By Helen E. Buckley. Illustrated by Jan Ormerod. New York: Lothrop, Lee, and Shepard, 1999.

Told in a rollicking, sing-song rhyme, the story follows Josie as she hides from her family, and they search through the house for her, the “rosy house, posy house”. Young children will need help to find Josie hidden behind the coats and under the table, but they will delight in the story, in the beautifully detailed illustrations, and in sharing the secret with Josie’s mother, father and brother, dog and cat, who play along beautifully, willingly searching for the little girl, only to curl up with her in the end. Jan Ormerod’s distinctive figures—the bespectacled father, roundly pregnant mother, smiling dog and winking cat—enhance the pleasure enormously. And babies will enjoy the rocking rhythm of it all.