Five Hiding Ostriches

With a text based on the familiar children’s Halloween rhyme and song “Five Little Pumpkins,”this appealing picture book begins with “Five little ostriches, / huddled in one spot. / The first onesaid, / ‘It’s getting rather hot.’” The second one agrees, while the third notices a little lion nearby.The fourth ostrich suggests a run, and the fifth says, “This might be kind of fun!” While they hidein the brush and later on a hill, they try to keep as still and as quiet as rocks, but even as the liondraws near, they continue to chatter. Suspense builds, but it’s quickly dispelled when the littlelion acknowledges that the birds, evidently his playmates, have won hide-and-seek. The backmatter explains how the strategies that the birds intend to practice relate to the actual behavior ofostriches when avoiding predators. Created digitally, the well-structured, double-pageillustrations create appealing characters and settings on the African plains. The rhyming text is concise and flows well, making this an enjoyable choice for singing or reading aloud.

—Booklist