Hide & Seek

4/3/2018

Lazybones by Claire Messer

Claire Messer is back! This time she’s brought the dog. Meet Robert Exelby Perdendo.
A large dog with a very large name. But wait. Take a look at the dog featured on the cover. This doggo is a canine with some serious side-eye. What's with that?

Readers discover that he has absolutely no interest in leaving the house. When he hears the command "Walkies!" No thank you. He is NOT interested.
Hence, his owner calls him Lazybones.
But here's the interesting part. He puts forth considerable effort to escape notice and uses his ingenuity to avoid the leash.

Things change when on a walk he meets a dog who likes to play hide-and-seek. Lazybones is a master at hiding, Now a walk outside becomes a game that he wants to play.

Messer has created her own little hide-and-seek game within the pages of the books. Discovering where Lazybones is hiding on each successive page is part of the book's charm. Dog owners everywhere will delight in the antics of Lazybones.

As with her previously published picture book Grumpy Pants, Messer’s signature illustration style introduces an animal with a distinctive personality. The hand-crafted linoleum prints feature a limited color pallet, strong graphic design elements, and uneven color application of ink, giving the images depth as well as added visual interest.
There are several charming little details waiting to be discovered: Park scenes feature a variety of dog breeds that are fun to identify. Careful observers will also note that a certain penguin makes a cameo appearance.