Now You See Them, Now You Don't: Poems About Creatures That Hide [Hardcover]

Find me
if you can. . .
for if you
don’t,
I’ll be here
tomorrow . . .
you
won’t.
 
Animals and insects use camouflage to hide from hunters or to ambush prey. Stealth is a very useful technique when it comes to survival. In this fun and informative collection of poems, we meet animals such as the polar bear and the octopus; the ghost crab and the copperhead snake; and many more that use camouflage to hunt or to hide.
 
Giles Laroche’s intricate cut-paper illustrations are beautiful and life-like. Readers will have to look carefully or run the risk of a hunter sneaking up on them.
 
Back matter offers additional information about each of the nineteen animals.*Nineteen different animals, placed in five animal categories, are represented first by artwork and poetry and finally by brief paragraphs and references for further reading.
The poems are graceful and often humorous, giving good introductions to the reasons behind each animal's protective coloration. The illustrations, which involve drawing, cutting, painting, and gluing, likewise effectively convey how camouflage works, without pretense of photorealism. The categories—sea life, reptiles and amphibians, mammals, insects and spiders, and birds—reveal a wide variety of animals, from ghost crab to Bengal tiger, walking stick to hawk. An especially funny but accurate poem is the double-page spread about the copperhead, whose letter to Mr. Vole is full of sibilance, reinforced in a literal sense: Find me / if you can, / my sssskin / deceivessss, / helpssss me / dissssappear. The accompanying art shows the mottled, coppery serpent under a scattering of autumn leaves. In contrast, a fawn hides, scentless, saved by fawny / polka dots / that blend with / gentle sunny spots. The text educates young readers about useful camouflage for predators and for prey, without resorting to anything truly disturbing. Other than a buzzylSk