Spot A Lot! Animal Escape by Steve Smallman

Illustrated by: Nicola Slater

Series: N/A

Published: Parragon, August 2014

Edition: Paperback

Narrated By: N/A

Genre: Picture Book, Children’s Fiction, Counting Book, Puzzle Book

Where Did I Get It? I received a copy as part of the Parragon Book Buddies Project in return for an honest review

Blurb: Gibbons swinging and playing on the jungle gym, zebras camouflaged on the zebra crossing, penguins keeping cool in the swimming pool… the animals are everywhere!

Look very carefully as you help to zookeeper count and spot all the zoo runaways in this great animal escape.

Opening Line:

There’s trouble at the zoo today…

The animals have run away!

My Review: I love spotting books – they have an endless appeal for me and make for great sharing books with the kids. Spot A Lot! Animal Escape is a particularly charming example of the genre – Nicola Slater’s playful illustrations compliment Steve Smallman’s cheeky counting rhymes that take you through the adventure of gathering up all of the escaped zoo animals from around the town.

The animals are all very cute and easy to recognise and the puzzles aren’t too difficult for little ones to solve, either – a problem I’ve found with a few books of this style. There is loads to talk about in every picture – not just the things you are supposed to be spotting. Funny things are happening everywhere and it’s a great book to cuddle up on the sofa together with and have a giggle.

It is just the right length for Tori (5) to read through in one sitting but a little too long for Arthur (3) to manage in one go. He prefers just doing one or two pages of spotting at a time, then coming back to it after a bit of a break to do some more.

This would be a great book for any child aged two or above – it encourages counting and interaction and you find something new every time you read it. A great addition to any bookshelf.

My Rating: 5/5*