GOLDFISH HIDE-AND-SEEK

Where is Heidi hiding? This single question forms the premise for a goldfish game of hide-and-seek. The seeker is an unnamed friend and fellow goldfish who asks the question of Miss Frog, Mr. Octopus, Doctor Angler, and others who inhabit the fishbowl universe. But Heidi is not to be found in this watery world. When the fish jumps out to have a look around, it finds that danger lurks outside the fishbowl in the form of Mr. Cat. As a distraction, the fish does a little dance and gets away, splashing into Heidi's path in a now uncluttered two-fish bowl, earlier shown profuse with underwater flora and fish, not to mention household items. The ending shortchanges its audience: Heidi appears out of nowhere, without an explanation for her previous whereabouts, nor visual clues for those preschool sleuths who may have wanted to join the search. It's a storyline that lacks the splash readers expect from Kitamura (Duck Is Dirty, 1996, etc.).