Where's Ellie?: A Hide-and-Seek Book

A Hide-and-Seek Book

by Salina Yoon

Where's Ellie is a guessing game in board book form. Very young readers will love searching for Ellie the elephant among familiar colorful objects—and finding something unexpected instead. Each page offers a hint of Ellie, but it isn't until the last page that readers will find her. And when they do, they'll want to start all over and do it again!

Intricate embossing on Ellie and her trunk add depth and a tactile element to this die-cut board book—as well as extra value.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Storytime, Kids

18 pages, Board Book

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Salina Yoon is an award-winning author/illustrator of over 150 books for children, including Penguin and Pinecone, Penguin on Vacation, Penguin in Love, Penguin and Pumpkin, Penguin's Big Adventure, Found, and Stormy Night.

Her latest book, Be a Friend, was a Winter 2015-2016 Kids' Indie Next Pick. Among her other awards are a Scholastic Teachers Top 10 Picture Book for Penguin's Big Adventure, and an NPR Best Book and 2014 SCIBA Book Award for Best Picture Book for Found. (complete list is on the website ABOUT page)

She studied art and design at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, and now lives in San Diego with her family.

www.salinayoon.com

Reviews

[Bree]

Where's Ellie is a very cute hide and seek children's book. This book is perfect for small kids who don't quite have the patience yet for longer books. It comes in a lovely hard back cover perfect for those little ones who still love the sound of ripping paper. This book has been a staple in our house for a while, since archer has been on this elephant kick. I love that you can feel the elephants skin, it just gives it another element to the book. So come along and let's find Ellie the elephant together :)

[Annamarie Carlson (she, her)]

Where is Ellie hiding? Is she behind the plant? Nope! That's a teapot spout, not an elephant's trunk! Keep turning the pages to see if you can spot Ellie.

A simple board book that emulates a lift-the-flap book with page turns instead of those more easily-breakable flaps. Short but could work well for virtual storytime.

[Megababy]

A solid five stars from me! Each time we read it, I wanted to read it 3, 4, 5 times in a row, even after I knew where Ellie was hiding. I loved to show dad and nana, too, and make them guess. So fun!

[Andrés]

This book has an innovative construction, with Ellie's trunk visible--and touchable--all along. It's exactly the right length. It's fun to say "no!!" and then maybe be surprised when the answer is "yes!" And then read it again.

[Caroline]

Ellie the elephant is hiding and it's up to readers to find her.

A cute board book.

[Janet]

The point of this title is to look at the gray shape and think they are parts of Ellie the elephant.

[Katie]

Ellie likes hearing her name, but the overall conceit is sort of meh for both her and me. She did like feeling the rougher texture of the ear and the trunk, though!

[Ashley Will]

Fun book finding an elephant 🐘 by seeing a trunk which turns out to be different things. This was included in my daughter's Panda Crate 🐼 from Kiwi 🥝 Company.

[Melissa Swistek]

This could be improved upon with the addition of flaps.

[Rachel Woody]

Very cute little book.

[Chadi Raheb]

Cute! :)

[Tony Loyer]

Cute. Almost too cute.

[Roisin]

not sure how anyone is confusing a teapot for an elephant and yet

[Becky]

First sentence: Where is Ellie hiding? Is she behind the plant? No, that's a teapot!

Premise/plot: Ellie (the elephant) is hiding. Can little ones find out where she's hiding in this super adorable board book by Salina Yoon?

My thoughts: I love that the elephant's ear and trunk are tactilely pleasing. There are many reasons why I love this one actually. I love, love, love elephants. Always have, always will. I don't think I'll ever outgrow my desire to have a pet elephant. Hide-and-seek books--with or without flaps--can be great fun to read with little ones. This one does not have flaps. A turn of the page reveals the surprise--was that Ellie? or was it something else? The front cover--and almost all of the pages--do have a cut-out. This cut-out is vital to the game of hide-and-seek. And I think it's also great for little grasping hands.

[Robert Beveridge]

Salina Yoon, Where's Ellie? (Random House, 2012)

A must-have for any elephant-loving bean bean, but it's incredibly short (even for a pre-lit board book) and because of that won't stand up to repeated reads as well as many other board books. I like the concept, though—you take a distinctive feature of a given animal (in this case, the elephant's trunk) and show other things that can be mistaken for it (a hose, the brim of a hat, etc.) before getting to the big reveal, and of course elephant lovers are going to rejoice when you hit that last page. ***

[Tasha]

In Yoon’s signature simple style, this board book offers hide-and-seek fun. Young readers are searching for Ellie but there are lots of things that look like an elephant and turn out to be something entirely different. This board book will work best for younger toddlers who will enjoy the search and turning the pages themselves.

[Adrienne]

This is certainly a fun book for children, and the pictures are simple and shape-focused. However, perhaps it would be best to identify whom "Ellie" is before the reader looks for her. It may seem unnecessary, but to a kid, it would be very confusing. Is Ellie the elephant, the rabbit, the ladybug, the worm, etc...?

[Vivian]

Follow the ladybug as she hunts Ellie the elephant. Is she behind the flowers? (turn the page to find out what LOOKED like an elephant's trunk was the end of the garden hose).

Children ages 1 - 5 loved this hide-and-seek guessing game in-a-book.

[Charles Norris]

There wasn't allot to the story it was just a hide and seek game. Probably good for a preschooler. The illustrations were okay but nothing too elaborate.

[Sarah Stumphf]

My two year old son really loved this book. We read it before bedtime last night, and he wanted to read it over and over. I really love when I find a book that he enjoys that much.

[Tracy Schillemore]

Cute book about searching for Ellie the elephant.

[Smith Family]

Isabelle and I love reading this book before bedtime!! We love looking for Ellie :)

[Vicki]

A fun hide and seek book for the little ones.

[Keshia Burchette]

My daughter got this book today from Imagination Library and it is so cute! She loved it.

[Nichole]

I’ve read this book a handful of times to one of my nanny kids. I’ve decided to add on here since I’ve read it quite a bit. It’s one of his favorites. He’s two, so maybe if you have a toddler, they’ll like this.