Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 04/01/2015 Though picture books in the find-the-tiny-objects genre can seem a bit aimless, this one has a clear destination: the farmers’ market. The large double-page spreads present diverse landscapes crisscrossed with roads and full of details and features. As trucks haul food and flowers through the countryside to the green market in town, children can pick out features such as “2 picnic areas, 2 tractors, 1 school bus,” or they can trace the mazelike routes of the trucks. The meticulously drawn illustrations, which are india ink drawings colored with acrylic, offer attractive vistas as well as interesting details. Puzzle fans will particularly enjoy searching for a route through the corn maze. Answer keys are appended. From a parent’s or teacher’s point of view, this is a good way for kids to gain the visual discrimination skills needed for reading, while they learn about the sources of food at their local farmers’ markets. For kids, though, the combination of mazes and hidden objects is just plain fun. It’s a winning combination. - Copyright 2015 Booklist.