Hippopotamus Hunt

Less inspired than his earlier word-play books (Can You Find It?; The Cow That Went OINK), Most's latest introduces five round-faced children who announce, ""We are word hunters. We hunt for hidden words."" They encounter a hippopotamus, who tells them that he knows where they can find many words. Busy cartoon art and simple text depict their search through the jungle; on each page a selected word or two (made up of letters found in the word ""hippopotamus"") is presented in bold type in the text, then enlarged and repeated in the forefront of the pictured scene. The remaining letters of ""hippopotamus"" are found in the background of the illustration. Although the volume encourages kids to look for words within words, its premise makes for some rather banal sentences (""We found a hoop around a stump"") that sound forced. Ages 3-8. (Oct.)