Sheep are supposed to be easy to herd, but not for Farmer McFitt, whose slumbers have allowed 10 mischievous sheep to escape and scatter all across town. If he doesn’t wake up in time to catch them, he’ll never get the sheep sheared and their wool knitted. The biggest problem is that wherever the sheep go, one of them disappears! At the zoo, 10 sheep meet a kangaroo, and later, at the circus, only nine take bows from high wires. Their numbers dwindle as they play baseball (or rather, eat the field), see a movie (eat too much popcorn), visit the library (eat the books) and so much more.
Hide and Sheep is a rhyming read-aloud counting book with hilarious adventures from the moment the sheep pole-vault the farmer’s gate. Author Andrea Beaty includes plenty of humor that will appeal to adults, and illustrator Bill Mayer makes the scenes come alive with vintage pop art-style pen-and-ink artwork. One of the best treats in the book is a sheep visit to an art museum, where the walls are lined with Bill Mayer sheep-ified originals: Dali wilted sheepskin clocks, Monet lily pads and a wooly van Gogh self-portrait.
Hide and Sheep, prankish and droll, is the perfect book to read (perhaps even twice) just before bedtime. Counting these lively sheep is sure to make even the rowdiest little ones drift off to sleep, just like Farmer McFitt.
