5 stars
D. Fowler "Dragonfly77 (Vermont) (Amazon)

Ricky Raccoon and his best friend Stella, a raindrop, were inside for the day because it was raining outside. They decided to hang out inside and play their favorite game, Hide and Seek. It was Stella's job to hide and Ricky's job was to find her, but he would need a bit of help. It wasn't always easy to find his friend because "she's so very small" and he was going to have to enlist the help of the reader. Ricky closed his eyes, covering them with his paws, and began to count. "One . . . two . . . three . . . four . . . Ready or not, here we come!" Was he going to be able to find his little friend?

Ricky's smiling eyes widened as he spotted a pile of eight colorful umbrellas. He just knew that Stella was hiding under one of them, but would he be able to find her in the pile? He would have to have a bit of help, but he was certain he could find her. He picked up the red umbrella. Nope, she wasn't under that one. How about the blue one? Blue was not her color. Perhaps she was hiding under the yellow one. To Ricky's surprise she wasn't there. There were five more umbrellas to look under. Was he going to be able to find her under an umbrella or was she hiding somewhere else?

This is an excellent book for young children to learn to recognize color words and learn their basic colors. This simple, but repetitive book makes it easy for the homeschooling parent or teacher to reinforce color concepts. When individual colored umbrellas are shown, Ricky will ask a question such as, "Stella, Stella, are you under the GREEN umbrella." The word "green" is highlighted in color. The artwork is simple, vibrant and very appealing. In the back of the book there are patterns of Ricky, Stella and the umbrellas that can be cut out, laminated, and used on flannel boards. There are two additional activities listed. If you would like an educational, colorful rainy day learning experience for your homeschool or preschool, this would be a wonderful choice!