December 7, 2022
Five Hiding Ostriches is a cute rhyming story about five ostriches hiding from a lion! Scary! (But not really). I truly enjoyed the theme of the book which emphasized the importance of play between friends. For some reason at first I thought the lion would eat the ostriches, but he was a friendly lion and no one was eaten. Whew! Maybe I have read too much Jon Klassen. The read aloud fun is in the rhymes. It reminded me of reading Goodnight Moon to my goddaughter and how she loves it when you whisper “Hush” in the book. Even though I wanted to tell her Goodnight Moon was played out (there’s a hot take for ya!) I read it to her anyway. Honestly, that baby could tell me to give her some money and I'd be all “How much? Let me make some more for you! I love you too much!” But I digress. This jaunty rhymer has “Hush. Hush. Hush. and Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!” So any child that enjoys whispering and then shouting is going to get a kick out of this. I can see my goddaughter and I doing just that when she starts speaking.
Bits and Pieces: Anytime a book has an activity in the back I recommend trying it out! There’s a “Rock ‘n’ Roar” game to try and as an extra bonus there’s some counting in the book that is more fun than educational. The illustrations were rendered digitally.
Favorite Part: Usually a rhyming book is not my jam, but with the ostriches being silly in their different “hiding” spots making the reader giggle, I’m giving this one a full pass!
Not Sure About: Not sure I got the end? I couldn’t tell if the lion found them in the end or he was actually stumped.
