Thursday 28 August 2014

Where's Spot by Eric Hill (Picture Puffin)


Where's Spot?

Written and Illustrated by
Eric Hill

Published by Picture Puffin

It would be remiss of us to host a fabulous Where's Spot competition without dipping into the original book itself. Though Charlotte's now 6, there's something about lift the flap books that she can't resist - and this is the grandaddy of them all, a book that we borrowed so many times from the library when she was just cutting her teeth (though thankfully she resisted the temptation to chew it) but now we've got our own copy we thought we'd have another look.

"Where's Spot?" Well, where is Spot? His friend Sally can't seem to find him anywhere in the house and as you flick through the book, your children get to lift different flaps and explore behind various objects to see if they can find the mischievous puppy.

Tom the crocodile is hiding under the bed. Helen the Hippo has managed to squeeze herself into the piano. As for Percy and Polly, they've found a very sneaky hiding place.

But where is spot?

We'll let you discover this timeless classic yourself to find out where Spot is hiding. It doesn't seem like a book that was first published nearly 34 years ago and that's the genius of the late Eric Hill - he had an expert illustrator's eye for providing simple but effective animal characters, weaving them into stories that cut down on the word count, used repetition cleverly, but still provided lots of excitement and stimulation for curious little minds.

Charlotte still loves this - so I cuddled up with her and let her read it to me instead of the other way around!

Don't miss out on the fantastic "Where's Spot" competition that we're helping out with this week. Check out the competition post here!

Charlotte's best bit: Helen the Hippo's hiding place is the best!

Daddy's Favourite bit: A timeless classic from a genius author illustrator who is very sadly missed.

(Kindly sent to us for review by Picture Puffin)