Hide & Seek Beautiful (Nicki Esler Gill, illus Jedda Robaard, Scholastic)

Hide & Seek Beautiful by Nicki Esler Gill explores a tender and heart-warming story of friendship and the little things in life. Best friends since birth, Annie and Boo find beauty in the same things, such as ‘feet-in-mud beautiful’ (‘the squelch and suck and silky-cool between their toes’) and ‘big belly-laugh beautiful’. However, for Annie, the most beautiful thing is the time they spend together and having Boo by her side through the good times and bad. When Boo suddenly leaves, Annie struggles to find the beauty in the world without her best friend around. However, she soon realises that beauty exists in everything if she looks for it. The story comes full circle when Boo returns and Annie shares the discovery she made in her friend’s absence. Jedda Robaard’s sweet and soft watercolour illustrations perfectly complement the narrative, creating a gentle world of joy and youthful wonder. Featuring fun alliteration and simple words, this is a perfect read-aloud picture book for young ones to enjoy and even partake in. Hide & Seek Beautiful is indeed a beautiful picture book because it affirms that there is still lots of beauty to be found even when you are on your own. Recommended for readers aged 3 and up.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Anthea Yang is a writer and editor living in Naarm/Melbourne. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

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