Where's Baby? by Anne Hunter (review)

Hunter, Anne Where's Baby?; written and illus. by Anne Hunter. Tundra, 2020 [38p] Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-7352-6498-4 $21.99 E-book ed. ISBN 978-0-7352-6499-1 $10.99 Reviewed from galleys R 2-5 yrs

Papa Fox can't find Baby, so he sets out to search: "Are you inside the log?" "Are you over the hill?" "Are you down the hole?" Another critter always dwells in Papa Fox's guessed locations, but they are never Baby ("I am over the hill, but I am not your baby," says a bear). Defeated, Papa Fox returns to Mama Fox empty-handed, until she suggests, "Have you looked behind you, Papa Fox?" Baby is of course behind him and has been near him on every page, gleefully playing hide-andseek, and viewers will get a kick out of finding Baby when Papa Fox can't. There are also possibilities here for teaching prepositions, and the question and answer format would allow for paired reading. Hunter's art, in ballpoint pen with light blue colored pencil to depict the sky, uses charcoal crosshatching for the adults, giving the pages a quietly pleasing air, while muted orange Baby is easy to pick out against the restrained palette. Make sure viewers see the endpapers, which set the playful tone.