It’s fun to discover hidden things to spot or personal references in beloved picture books. My husband and I delighted in searching for the mouse in Goodnight Moon with our kids. I think it was my husband who pointed out the red balloon hidden in Goodnight, Gorilla to me. After that, the hunt was on. We loved to figure out what surprises illustrators left to be discovered.
How about you? What things have you noticed in picture books that are hidden away, or, a signature reference, in plain sight by your favorite illustrators? Thanks for sharing!
Things to Spot in Famous Picture Books
Moon by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Clement Hurd
Look for a white mouse on every color page spread and also check out the clock in the room. It takes mother bunny a full hour to put her baby to bed.
Goodnight, Gorilla by Peggy Rathman
Look for the red balloon on every spread. It’s hard to find! We also like to spot the mouse who’s hauling a banana. Finally, check out the photos in the zookeeper’s house. It’s baby pictures of the zoo animals.
Arthur series by Marc Brown
Marc Brown hides the names of his kids, Tucker, Tolon and Eliza. Sometimes his wife, Laurie, is included too.
The Mysterious Tadpole by Steven Kellogg
Look in all of his books for his dog, Pinkerton, and cat, Secondhand Rose.
The Mitten by Jan Brett
She hides a hedgehog in all her books.
Waiting for Wings by Lois Elhert
Lois Elhert hides a heart in each of her books.
The Extinct Alphabet Book by Jerry Pallotta, illustrated by Ralph Masiello
Ralph hides pictures of Jerry and others in his artwork.
In The Skull Alphabet Book, Ralph hid 43 United States presidents.
Curious George books by H. A. Rey
His black cocker spaniel is in each of Curious George books.
Two Bad Ants by Chris Van Allsburg
Chris Van Allsburg includes a white dog with a patch over one eye in all his books.
Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
Look for Maurice Sendak’s terrier, “Scottie,” in each of his books.
Miss Nelson series James Marshall
Illustrator James Marshall includes the flag of Texas in each of his books.
Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
It may not be deliberate, but look for the big hand in the tree.
To examine any book more closely at Amazon, please click on image of book.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
My books:
BEST #OWNVOICES CHILDREN’S BOOKS: My Favorite Diversity Books for Kids Ages 1-12 is a book that I created to highlight books written by authors who share the same marginalized identity as the characters in their books.
So fun! We used to read a book series through Usborne called Farmyard tales and they hid a tiny yellow duck on each page. My boys loved looking for him on each page!
Hi Mother of 3,
I will have to find that one!
Loved loved recent blog posting as I’ve read all book listed many times and never spotted these hidden pictures
Hi Sue,
It’s such a fun thing to discover, isn’t it? Some are new to me like the heart in Lois Ehlert’s books.
I spy several favorites in this post! I love the things Jan Brett hides in her books.
Hi MaryAnne,
I didn’t realize she hid a hedgehog. Makes me want to re-read all her books!
This is too much fun!!!
Thanks Penny!
Enjoyed this post. I certainly missed some great hidden things in some of my favorite books.
Hi Pat,
I didn’t know about some of these until I researched this post too. It’s such fun to go back and reread the books.
I loved seeing all of the hidden wonders & learning the reasons for them.
Thanks so much Patricia!
Julia Donaldson books illustrated by Axel Sheffler have the Gruffalo hiding in them. The ones illustrated by David Roberts have cross over illustrations too – like Tyrannosaurus Drip shows up in another book.
Mo Willems hides the pigeon in his books. Leonardo the Terrible Monster shows up in Knuffle Bunny Too.
Fergus the dog shows up in David Shannon books.
My kids love spotting things like this. 🙂
This is so great British American! Thanks for sharing! I remember also that one Elephant and Piggie had the Pigeon hidden on the end pages. That was fun for us to find! Your kids are on it!!!
Denise Fleming’s book, The Everything Book, has 119 ladybugs spread throughout the book. In William Shakespeare & the Globe, by Aliki, she and her husband are pictured in the audience scene at the end of the book, along with several of their real-life friends. Donald Crew added himself to Night at the Fair; he’s the guy with the camera on the right hand page of the double spread Race-A-Way Fun scene.
This is so great! Thanks so much for sharing Betty!! I will have to find those books!
In Caralyn Buehner and Mark Buehner’s SNOWMEN books, they hide several animals such as a bunny, cat, T-rex, and more hidden snowmen on each page. The only issue is that some of them are hidden too well and we’ve never found them! But still super fun and gorgeous artwork. I love Mo Willems’ Pigeon popping up here and there in his other books. I’m still looking for more like the mouse in Goodnight Moon where there is one simple, repeated image on each page…
Hi Hidden Gems,
Now I have to find those! I don’t know that series so I am excited to read these books. Thanks so much for sharing!
Yes, Mark Buehner is the best! My Monster Mama has so many fun hidden pictures and repeated animals on every page. We must have read it dozens of times before realizing, then the hunt was on!
Hi Emily,
I love books like that where you have to figure out that there are hidden things.