2019 / Library book / 12 pages / UK/Finland
***
She was too impatient to appreciate the red herrings stalling her determined hunt, so I won't hold out hope for her Usborne Puzzle Adventures waiting in the cupboard.
Eric Hill, Where's Spot?
****
Straightforward hide and seek with no thematic mucking about. Even as a child, I remember coming to this debut later on and noting the early designs of what would eventually turn out to be Spot's mates, which I appreciate haven't been 'remastered' to bring them in line. As in rip-off Dear Zoo (two years later), older readers can find enjoyment in the unspoken backstory of what all these deadly jungle animals are doing hiding out in a house and why there are no people in sight.
2021 / Library book / 10 pages / UK/Germany
***
I don't know how much this sliding variant has in common with the book it's based on, but it was a rare treat to actually get a plot in one of these things, however brief.
Lucy Cousins, Little Fish's Ocean
2022 / Library book / 10 pages / UK
**
The first of these cash-ins we've read that works as a proper sequel, with more new than recycled art as the relentless fish explores new depths, in the vertical rather than meaningful sense. Much too short, but panoramic flaps give you a bit more.
2022 / Library book / 10 pages / UK
**
Where do they get their crazy ideas from!? It is Where's Spot again again, with less exotic animals along the way, but she had fun and read it through herself afterwards, so maybe originality is overrated.
