Look See Find Me

Look See Find Me by Sandra Severgnini (CSIRO Publishing 2025) HB RRP $26.99 ISBN 9781486319886

Reviewed by Sylvia Forbes.

Take a journey into the world of animal camouflage and discover what may be right under your nose!                                      Discover frogs that look like leaves, spiders disguised as flowers, crabs concealed as sponges and seahorses hidden in coral.

There is something so irresistible about a search and find challenge that - no matter your age - draws you in and commands your participation. 

Look See Find Me demonstrates this brilliantly. You simply open the cover of this book and start searching. No questions asked.

Sandra Severgnini has done an excellent job in seamlessly blending the creatures into every environment - giving them that perfect degree of difficulty for readers of this age group to locate. (Whilst at times making them almost completely indetectable and as a consequence - utterly bamboozling!) 

I found myself challenged on a certain page or two trying to find the creatures hidden in (and disguised by) their surroundings. So, I was most grateful for the three pages worth of Meet the Camouflaged Creatures included at the back of the book - offering up images of the elusive creatures I'd been searching for - along with a paragraph of interesting facts and information on each of them.

Also - at the rear of the book - is an interesting read - More About Camouflage - and a Glossary.

Severgnini’ s background in botanical drawing and her passion for environmental and nature subjects is evidenced throughout this gorgeous book. 

Each double-page illustration - sometimes dense and lush, sometimes minimal and airy - reveals a completely different scene - within which are concealed a range of (up to three) skillfully-camouflaged creatures - and lists the common and Latin names of the creatures you are looking for.

Among the moss and leaves we rest.                                                                                                                                                It's where we camouflage the best.

These stunning illustrations are accompanied by rhyming couplets - which read like the kind of clues you'd expect to find in a treasure hunt - adding to the fun of it all.

Kids will absolutely enjoy pouring over the colourful glossy pages of this picture book - with eyes and fingers darting from spot to spot in their search for the hidden creatures - and I can imagine siblings and friends having 'see-who-can-find-it-first' contests - like I would have done as a kid.

My personal favourite page (in a book where all pages could be favourites), was the delicately illustrated Orchid with the cleverly hidden Orchid mantis (Hymenopus coronatus). And I enjoyed seeing the end papers - with their rows of magnifiers at one end, then seeing them again -but this time with images of creatures behind them - at the other. 

The act of looking for and finding hidden objects (or in this case - creatures) concealed in highly detailed, larger images, is vital for children growing up with apps on screens. 

Having their eyes and minds engaged in a hold-in-your-hands book whilst problem-solving - away from the bombardment of flashy animations, rewards and constant notifications - is a wonderful means for strengthening observational skills. It is also important for increasing levels of focus, confidence, patience and memory. Essential ingredients for developing minds living in a world that's always 'on.'

Look See Find Me is an engaging, educational and fun activity-book - perfect for both home and classroom settings - and an excellent resource book for school projects and biological sciences.

Recommended for ages 5-9 years.

Teacher notes - aligned to the Australian Curriculum - are free to download from the CSIRO Publishing website: publish.csiro.au/book/8211/#forteachers