Found You!

Mardi Davies

Found You! is the story of a little girl, Florence. She is trying to play hide and seek properly with her dog, Trevor. He is having great difficulty with grasping the game’s concepts. Or, perhaps, Florence hasn’t adequately explained the concepts involved. Florence is unsure of what the reason is for Trevor’s inability to play. But whatever the reason, the game is not working very well.

The choice of wording in Found You! is very good. Parents who read it aloud, at bed-time, will enjoy the experience. The humour is dry, and great use is made of comic timing. There are also nice word patterns in the story, as well as repetition of adverbs.

My feelings about the artwork were mixed, though. I liked the plants, particularly the flowers and grass. I was really intrigued by the detail on the tap, at the beginning of the book. In fact, I kept turning back to have a look at it. I also loved the use of splattered colour in the middle of the book. However, Florence is a very odd shape and I found that distracting. She seemed to clash with the detail of the other drawings throughout the book.

Found You! is suitable for children aged three to six. It would also be a good choice for children who are learning to read.

Katy Gerner