Found You! by Mardi Davies

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Ford Street, 2014. ISBN 9781925000672
(Age: Preschool - Yr 2) The backyard is full of great hiding places and Florence Moon and her dog Trevor are having a wonderful game of hide-and-seek. Trevor is doing the hiding and Florence Moon is doing the seeking but Trevor is not very good at finding places to conceal himself. Florence Moon finds him in seconds. Every time. They talked about camouflage, disguises and choosing places that were big enough but still she found him. Every time. She counted forward she counted backward, she counted every number she knew. But still she found him easily. This game was running out of fun so Florence Moon stopped playing. But Trevor didn't get the message. He followed her wherever she went. Everywhere. And that gave Florence Moon an idea . . .
Who doesn't like a good game of hide-and-seek? Miss 8 and Miss 3 play it endlessly when they are here but Miss 8 is a bit like Florence Moon and Miss 3 is a bit like Trevor - obvious places, giggles and little calls of 'I'm here!' give Miss 3 away every time. So when this was their bedtime story on Saturday night, they loved it, and not just because it resonated so strongly with their own games.
Author/illustrator Mardi Davies has spent many years creating animations at Walt Disney Animation Australia and her skill and knowledge shine through this book. Both Florence Moon and Trevor are very appealing with their expressions and body language being an integral part of the text as well as the pictures, and the techniques of frame-by-frame, close-ups and subtle hints like the chicken reading 'Does Your Pet Have Separation Anxiety?' drag the reader right into Florence Moon's thinking. Miss 3 loved looking for the chickens -she'd spent the day trying to get friendly with our new ones which she named Chicken and Licken - and Miss 8 was fascinated by the representation of Trevor as a shadow. 'That's just like Stacey - she follows me like a shadow!' Every page has riches to explore and offers opportunities for talking and learning.
This is a charming book about friendship, loyalty and the joy of childhood which has wide appeal.
Barbara Braxton

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