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HIDE, RUN, GROWL by Fiona Treweeke

HIDE, RUN, GROWL

by Fiona Treweeke & illustrated by Mike Stonelake & developed by Kid-Estorybooks

Pub Date: Aug. 23rd, 2011
Publisher: Kid-Estorybooks

A feel-good, cutesy animal tale with questionable rhymes and standard-fare features, this story of a curious tiger cub could have been called, "Meat, Play, Love."

The little tiger cub (who has no name) decides to hunt for food when his Mummy hurts her paw. He meets a fearsome crocodile with huge teeth, a long, coiled snake, an elephant and a giraffe, all of which he decides he probably shouldn't attack using his "Hide, run, growl" strategy. When he meets a young bunny, the two play instead of fight, and the bunny rewards the friendship with some fish abandoned by a bear. The illustrations throughout are harmlessly cuddly, with thick, defined lines and friendly curves. Even the crocodile's teeth don't seem too deadly. The awkward, rhyming couplets, spoken by a British-accented narrator, stretch the bounds; "Paw" rhymes with "more," and "path" is flagrantly paired with "giraffe." Animation throughout is subtle, but limited; words are spoken aloud when readers touch objects like "tiger cub" and "sky," but except for a puzzle and matching game outside the main story, that's about as interactive as the tiger cub's app gets.

That may be for the best; Linger too long in the app, and older kids might begin to wonder what happens to the tiger and bunny's friendship once the two get a little older.

(iPad storybook app. 2-5)