Hide-and-Seek Science: Animal Science

Illustrator Stevenson makes her debut as an author by taking readers through seven ecosystems and asking them to find animals hidden in each scene. “For animals,” she explains, hide-and-seek “isn’t just a game. It’s a matter of life and death.” Although it’s more a matter of pointing to the animals in Stevenson’s naturalistic gouache paintings than finding them (most are out in the open), it’s still no small feat, with the author challenging readers to locate more than 30 animals on most spreads; the final scene, set in a coral reef, boasts 83 animals—including the coral, of course. Stevenson’s paintings are reproduced on intervening pages, with each animal numbered; brief details about them are included, but not always enlightening (“Snow geese are white like snow”). The artwork is the main draw. Ages 6–10. (Oct.)