Hatch and Match

This colourful book opens with a peaceful scene in a farmyard. The colourful hens are roosting in a tree. The rooster crows and chaos ensues.
The hens jump down from their roost and hurry to find their eggs before they hatch.

Ruth Paul does a wonderful job engaging the reader in helping the hens find their eggs. The hens have patterns on their wings and they need to find the matching eggs. The pages are a riot of vivid colours and children will enjoy poring over the pages looking for the ‘match’. To add interest the eggs are in strange places; there’s even a nest in a shoe.

The text contains a lot of enriching math language e.g. ‘stripy’, ‘zigzag’, ‘triangles’ and ‘match’; and great adjectives such as squiggly and swirly. The rhyming rhythm makes the text fun to read.

When the eggs finally hatch, there are still colours and patterns to match to a degree. Just like humans, the chickens resemble their mother hens but are unique.

Although Easter themed, this picture book will be a delight all year round particularly for children who enjoy ‘look and find’ type books.