Find Mouse in the Yard: Lift the Flap-Follow the Clue

Hide-and-seek undergoes a new twist in these chipper ``lift the flap--follow the clue'' books, as an elusive rodent leads little ones on a merry chase indoors and out. On both opening spreads, the alarm is sounded (``Mouse is missing! Where can he be?''), while easy-to-follow instructions on the opposite page guide his discoverers through, respectively, a riotously blooming garden and a cheerily detailed domicile. Each of the eight spreads contains two possible hiding places: flaps which, when lifted, send searchers via words and picture to yet another location. (In House , for example, ``Is Mouse hiding on the sofa?'' is answered by ``No, try the bookcase'' or ``No, try the toy box.'') Tabs on each page match these clues with depictions of the relevant setting (the bookcase is pictured on one tab, the toy box on another, etc.). As rendered in Hard's kaleidoscopic watercolor and pen-and-ink illustrations, these diverting quests can serve as easy word identifiers; the quarry can also be pursued wordlessly. Ages 3-up. (May)