"Let's go search for hidden words!" suggests a school-bound mouse in the opening spread of Michaël Escoffier and Kris Di Giacomo's spritely Where's the Baboon? A 2-in-1 Book Game, a companion to the team's Take Away the A. (The very cute white mouse, perched atop a pencil, is being ceremoniously carried by two other white mice.)
Once at school, there are many classroom mysteries to solve, and one question appears on every spread. "Who is hiding behind the castle?" for instance. The bold letters shown here are highlighted in red in the book and they spell c-a-t, and that's who is hiding behind the castle, even though all the reader sees is two orange ears and a telltale tail. "Who can count to a thousand?" A toad! (The toad is counting a fishbowl full of tadpoles on the floor of the classroom while the three white mice climb number blocks.) The words hidden inside words should delight new readers, and even just guessing at as-yet-unseen animals is fun. Each school spread offers an enticing window into classroom mayhem, populated only by animals, including, eventually, the titular baboon. Delightful details abound: the mischievous mice are always up to something; a brown cow is reading a book called How Now?; and the only human in sight is a tiny toy for the ape.
Comically choreographed with the creative wordplay, Di Giacomo's expressive, winsome paintings of snakes cutting paper snowflakes, cows juggling mice and the explosive birthday surprise at the end guarantee giggles. --Karin Snelson, children's editor, Shelf Awareness