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

 

 

Tree Beings

Tree Beings by Raymond Huber and Sandra Severgnini (EK Books) HB RRP $34.99 ISBN 781925820539

Reviewed by Dianne Bates

‘I hope that many children all over the world will read Tree Beings and understand the importance of trees’ says Jane Goodall, the world-renowned anthropologist, in a foreword to this heavy-duty, outstanding book which will survive many readings by children aged 7 to 12 years. The purpose of Tree Beings is to inspire kids to fall in love with the natural world and act to protect trees which the author (and many other experts) says are our best allies in fighting climate change.

The book’s cover, with animals (including man) cleverly disguised in the limbs and leaves of a tree, the fly pages beautifully decorated with swirling tree limbs and leaves (and birds), and the title page with locusts on the bark of a tree, are a wonderful introduction to Tree Beings. In fact, the illustrations in this book are simply gorgeous! Sandra Severgnini has made the text come alive with her amazing artistic talents.

There are four big ideas in Tree Beings: that trees give life to the planet, that they help fight climate change, that they are like beings and that they need our help and protection. Many people have contributed to this wonderful book from professors to PhD scholars to a woman (Julia Butterfly Hill) who lived for two years in a tree! Reading this book children will learn that forests are one of the most important ecosystems on Earth, providing us with clean water and air, removing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and breathing out oxygen (O2).

Visually, this book is stunning, from its portrayal of trees, insects, animals, fruits, people, and much more. Every chapter displays a double-page spread which can only be described as ‘lush’. They illustrate stories such as that by Professor Wangari Maathai, described as ‘Mother of the Trees’ who stood up to violent government forces in her work to plant millions of trees. Another person highlighted in the book is young Australian Tony Rinaudo whose work in Niger Africa has seen over 200 million trees regrown from stumps. But for a child reader the most inspirational story must be that of nine-year-old German boy Felix Finkeiner who has a plan to plant a trillion trees to fight climate change and is steadily accomplishing his task.

If a reader wants to know about the Green Belt Movement, he/she can check out www.greenbeltmovement.org There are numerous other websites in the book for young readers to research that tell of tree activists throughout the world. If they want to help preserve trees, there’s a list of ways in which they can help reforest the world, recycle paper and wood products, and more. There is also a glossary of science words, a page of references, puzzles and mazes and an index. Finally, the final fly pages depict a cross-section of a tree’s roots.

It’s unlikely there’s a better book on trees for young readers than Tree Beings, thus it is highly recommended.

Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps a singing bird will come. A Chinese proverb.

In the Shadow of an Elephant

In the Shadow of an Elephant by Georgie Donaghey & Sandra Severgnini

(Little Pink Dogs) PB RRP $24.95 ISBN: 9780648256311

Reviewed by Karen Hendriks

In The Shadow of an Elephant is a perfect collaboration of words and pictures that creates something magical. A picture book, it not only touches the heart but delivers a tender message about love and friendship showing that the circle of friendship never breaks.

One terrible night Lualani is orphaned and separated from her herd. Left alone in the world, she is changed forever. As fate would have it, on the edge of the African Savanna she is befriended by Jabari. It takes time and patience but Lualani learns to trust once again. A life-long friendship unfolds and takes us through the circle of life.

The language in this story sings and the emotions of the story are so delightfully played out with the illustrations’ tender use of dark and light with touches of colour. The characters are drawn into the readers’ hearts and each plays their part well in the story.

What I particularly like about this story is that is shows that no matter what happens to you in life, friendship will always make your heart sing. Each of us has our own life journey, but isn’t it all the sweeter with a friend?

Schools and libraries will appreciate this story as it fits into the school curriculum.