View source for Tales from Acorn Wood: Hide-and-Seek Pig by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler

{{infobox2
|title=Tales from Acorn Wood: Hide-and-Seek Pig
|author=Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler
|reviewer=Sue Magee
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=The perfect, timeless, lift-the-flap board book from the dream team of children's picture books. Highly recommended.
|rating=5
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=12
|publisher=Macmillan's Children's Books
|date=January 2015
|isbn=978-1447273431
|website=http://www.juliadonaldson.co.uk/
|video=hCT72wXQJtY
|aznuk=1447273435
|aznus=1447273435
|cover=1447273435
}}

Pig and Hen decide to play hide-and-seek and whilst Pig counts to ten, Hen goes off to hide.  Pig thinks that she's found Hen straight away when she spots a yellow beak behind the gate, but when we lift the gate flap we discover that the yellow beak belongs to Blackbird, who happily joins in the hunt for Hen.  Could that be Hen hiding in a tent?  There's a long brown ear peeping out from behind the flap, but when it's lifted, we discover Rabbit, who joins the two hunters.  She was having a drink when she was found, but she brings her mug along with her.  Before Hen is eventually found we've collected quite a few seekers!

I'm sure it's stating the obvious to tell you at this stage that this is a lift the flap book!  You'll need a little more detail than that.  It's a simple story, but beautifully told with two-line rhymes and with the use of a big clear font and short words which would make the book an excellent choice for a child learning to read.  There's not too much of a challenge but plenty of reward for the reader on each page - and at the end of the book it's the reader who finds Hen before the six searchers.

It's a substantial board book - a solid cover with strong pages.  With lift-the-flap books it's usually the flaps which are the weak point but these flaps are sturdy if not indestructible - which is not going to be possible short of having them constructed by a carpenter.  The flaps are not all simple either - the gate is not solid and you can see Blackbird hiding behind it.  There's a great deal of skill in the ''production'' of this book.

Of course there's also the illustrations by Axel Scheffler: lovely clear pictures with all sorts of little extras to find, such as Rabbit discarding her mug or Squirrel with his basket of washing which he somehow manages to pass on to Rabbit.  Just look at the expression on her face!  It's a book to go back to time and time again and you'll find something new on each reading.

It's fifteen years since this book was first published but it's absolutely timeless and I can imagine it being a book which children will pass on to their children.  I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.

There are not many board books which have a real story, but if you are looking for another we can recommend [[Max's Wagon by Barbro Lindgren and Eva Eriksson]].

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[[Category:Julia Donaldson]]
[[Category:Axel Scheffler]]
[[Category:Emerging Readers]]