Have You Seen Gordon?
Author and Illustrator: Adam Jay Epstein and Ruth Chan
Published: September 28, 2021 by Simon & Schuster
Summary: Packed with vibrant and dizzying artwork, this hilarious story cleverly riffs on classic seek-and-find books and will have young ones laughing out loud as the narrator struggles to get the characters to play along.
Have you seen Gordon? Oh. There he is. Gordon isn’t very good at hiding, is he?
The narrator wants to play hide and seek with Gordon and the reader, but Gordon just wants to stand out. This madcap, fourth wall–breaking picture book is packed with humor and full, zany spreads with details kids will return to again and again.
Review: This book is very funny, and my kids loved it. It is a more humorous, more accessible Where’s Waldo? but for younger children. That said, all of my children (ages 2-8) loved it. Readers are finding Gordon (and others) across the pages, and they are also listening to a very clever tale about him. As an underling theme, Gordon doesn’t want to hide anymore. I adored this charming book and will enjoy reading it again and again.
Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: Students could be inspired to reimagine their own favorite picture books, and they need not be hide-and-seek texts!
Discussion Questions:
- Why doesn’t Gordon want to cooperate in the text?
- What did you learn about him?
- How is this text creatively imagined?
Flagged Passages:
Read This If You Love: Funny stories, Hide-and-seek stories, Where’s Waldo? books, I Spy books
Recommended For:
**Thank you to Chantal at Simon & Schuster for providing a copy for review!**
Have you seen gordon is a cute concept, but parents should be aware that there are subtle references to potentially inappropriate content for some children.
This website does a good job at pre-reading and flagging content for parents to review before putting the book in front of children:
https://screenitfirst.com/book/have-you-seen-gordon-1983131