A Dark, Dark Cave - Hardcover

Eric Hoffman has worked for thirty-five years in Maryland, Ohio, and California helping preschoolers create caves, forts, nests, barns, and other hideouts. He lives and writes in a sunny house in Santa Cruz.

PreS-Gr 1—A boy, girl, and dog enter a cave with a flashlight. They see bats, stalactites, stalagmites, lizards, large yellow eyes, giant paws, and then a large, human shadow; they "Roooaaaar!" On the next spread, their father lifts the blanket of their "cave" and tells them to "find a quiet game. The baby's sleeping." The siblings devise a plan to pretend to be two horses running "to a blanket barn/wearing manes of yarn/playing happily/in what used to be/a dark, dark cave." The story relies on digitally assembled illustrations created with watercolor, pencil, and colored pencil, as the most text on any spread is 13 words, providing scant description. The dark cave scenes are appropriately abstract but may be difficult for younger readers to follow. The horse-riding scenes are bright, sunny, and detailed. Pretend play is more satisfyingly conveyed in Michael Rosen's We're Going on a Bear Hunt and David Axtell's We're Going on a Lion Hunt. Suggest Lemony Snicket's The Dark to readers who wish to shiver with expert pacing in text and atmospheric illustrations. VERDICT A serviceable addition for fans of imaginative play.—Laura Scott, Farmington Community Library, MI