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A review by ellielabbett
Hide and Seek by Anthony Browne
4.0
Browne is not known for being straightforward in his works, but this one I found particularly ambiguous. After their dog goes missing (the fate of which is quite mysterious), Cy and Poppy decide to play hide and seek in a wood, and the pair are separated for quite some time. The underlying meaning behind what happens here is really quite debatable, I am left wondering if it is a mirror image of what happened to their dog when he disappeared, or a reflection of their internal worries regarding loss repeating itself.
The story becomes shrouded in obscurity as soon as the children enter the woods. Similarly to ‘Into The Woods’, fear and dangers are so tightly tied to the forest, and the heart begins to race with Browne’s changing tones and textures. More depth is added to the narrative through his depiction of trees, which become skeletal and filled with illusions. There certainly appears to be more taking place than first meets the eye, and I do not think it is an issue to be uncertain of exactly what is taking place.
On a side note, it is excellent to see characters depicted from a background less commonly portrayed within any of the literature that I have read. After their time playing hide and seek, the two children return to their mobile home, which resides on the outskirts of a possibly underprivileged area. So important for diversifying children’s understanding of different ways of living, and ensuring that readers who do not live in the supposedly ‘conventional’ home are valued and represented within their reading.
The story becomes shrouded in obscurity as soon as the children enter the woods. Similarly to ‘Into The Woods’, fear and dangers are so tightly tied to the forest, and the heart begins to race with Browne’s changing tones and textures. More depth is added to the narrative through his depiction of trees, which become skeletal and filled with illusions. There certainly appears to be more taking place than first meets the eye, and I do not think it is an issue to be uncertain of exactly what is taking place.
On a side note, it is excellent to see characters depicted from a background less commonly portrayed within any of the literature that I have read. After their time playing hide and seek, the two children return to their mobile home, which resides on the outskirts of a possibly underprivileged area. So important for diversifying children’s understanding of different ways of living, and ensuring that readers who do not live in the supposedly ‘conventional’ home are valued and represented within their reading.