Rainy Day Clue Quest: Max & Ruby's Treasure Hunt by Rosemary Wells

"LET'S HAVE A TEA PARTY!" SAID MAX'S SISTER RUBY. "GOOD IDEA!" SAID RUBY'S BEST FRIEND LOUISE.

The sun is shining brightly, and the two girls and Max and his friend Lily decide to take their fun al fresco for a picnic. They pack up their tea set and a perfect blue gingham picnic cloth. Ready?

Not so fast. The sunny day has quickly turned to showers. Their tea party is a washout! 

But Grandma has an alternative.

"LET'S HAVE A TREASURE HUNT!

THERE ARE SEVEN CLUES HIDDEN IN SEVEN PLACES IN THE HOUSE.   FOLLOW THE CLUES ONE AFTER ANOTHER, AND YOU WILL FIND A TREASURE!"

The kids can't resist the quest. Each clue is a well-known rhyme with a key word missing. Guessing the word supplies the place to find the next hidden rhyme, and the four youngsters race through the house to locate the clue that follows. Some of the items are partially hidden and it takes all four sets of eyes to spy them out. Some of the clues take a bit of thinking outside the box:

"LITTLE BOY BLUE, COME BLOW YOUR ...."

The secret word "horn" comes quickly, but where is there a horn in Grandma's house? She doesn't play trombone! "Garage!" shouts Max, and he gets to honk the horn in the car when they find the note taped to the steering wheel. Finally they are down to the last clue:

"HICKORY DICKORY DOCK. THE MOUSE RAN UP THE ...."

"BLOCK? LOCK? SOCK?" SAID LOUISE.

"CLOCK!" SHOUTS MAX.

But there are flocks of clocks in Grandma's house, a bedside alarm clock, a kitchen clock, the guest room clock.....

But there is one BIG clock, one with a little door on the front that opens! Can the timely treasure be there?

With Rosemary Well's beloved sister-and-brotheract leading the way with their friends Louise and Lily joining the hunt, Well's new large format lift-the-flap book, Max and Ruby's Treasure Hunt (Max & Ruby) (Viking, 2012) provides an engaging (and possibly inspiring) rainy-day read all on its own. Wells' illustrations are as charmingly portrayed as ever, and the youngest of the treasure seekers, Lily and Max, find themselves full partners in the puzzle with the older kids. The fun of the flaps, larger versions of Grandma's hidden clues inside sealed envelopes, will give little fingers something to do, while completing the clue rhymes will keep all of their heads in the game with this rainy-day fun from Rosemary Wells.