Cover Image: Look for Ladybug in Ocean City

Look for Ladybug in Ocean City

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Member Reviews

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. Ladybug and her friends are on a vacation to Ocean City. Ladybug gets separated from the group and her friends are looking for her. This is a busy book and has lots to look at.

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I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun, detailed search and find book. Kids will love looking for ladybug. The story doesn't quite bowl you over, but the kids will be too busy with the pictures to notice.

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This was an adorable seek and find book and I really enjoyed looking at the millions of things hidden in each picture.

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Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was simple to understand and great fun. I like the way it taught friendship to kids. Recommended.

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A super fun search-and-find book that has two detectives going in search of their friend Ladybug in Ocean City. Each two page spread has a list of five things to find- Ladybug, someone sleeping, someone crying, five sea snakes, and a stripey cuttlefish- that will be found in each spread, and three things specific to that spread. There are so many fun things to find in the illustrations though, even once you find all the items, you'll want to keep looking! I think kids of all ages will enjoy this book, including those who aren't physically kids any more like myself. The art is adorable, with lots of interesting creatures & personalities displayed. There is an answer key in the back in case there's any trouble finding all the creatures- I admit, I missed a few, they're well hidden! Also, old eyes ha!

#LookforLadybuginOceanCity #NetGalley

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Who doesn't love search and find books?
Even today I still love to look through a well illustrated seek and find book. Of course it's always more fun with a kid by my side these days. These pages are wonderfully colourful with whimsical illustrations. There is a real story here (which is unusual for a search and find book) that really allows this book to be used again, even after the child has found everything. Never mind were you to try and name all the aquatic animals drawn on each page. I know I'd be hard pressed to; but they do all look like they are based off real fish or aquatic mammals (there are otters that show up a couple times I love).
On each page there are little phrases or words in the illustrations, for example: way up, way down, eye tests, chill out and more. This is a great way to have a little one practice reading a bit; without them needing to read the entire story blurb on the page and getting overwhelmed.
We also visit many fun, and a couple not so fun but needed, locations along the way including the dentist, theater, a gorgeous museum (I want the two-sided head sea serpent on display!), and, my personal favourite, a garden maze!
There is a list of items to find at the beginning of the book (including ladybug of course) and then throughout the story blurbs there are phrases in all-caps that indicate they are to be found. For example: crab on a swing, portrait of a fish with a pearl earring, shrimp looking in the mirror, starfish with seven arms, etc. These are fun in that they aren't just an object for a child to find but in fact are often 'actions' inside the still illustration. So not only do you need to know the aquatic animal doing the item (ie: fish, octopus, crab, etc.) you have to know where something is or what something is. So to find 'penguin with a basket of ice pops' you need to know what a penguin looks like, what a bucket is, and probably what ice pops are. And yes there are tricks! On the page to find the penguin I saw at least four other penguins doing things like: eating ice cream, drinking coffee, walking, etc. So it's not as easy as just find the animal.
Don't worry parents for those who aren't so great at these, or have impatient children, there is a key at the back. Now if you're child is anything like my 8-year-old niece then you'll get in big trouble (like I did) for 'cheating' and looking at the answers. LOL

Overall I really liked this book. I love that it's a real story of 'detectives' looking for ladybug and it has an adorable twist at the end of the story. I also love finding things! So it's a double whammy and well worth the cost of getting this one in a nice hardcover that will last. Some of my favourite books from when I was a child are the search and find ones that helped me learn to read. It's too bad this one wasn't published many (okay yes a lot of) years earlier.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

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Cute story with colorful pictures. Would be a fun read to little ones and older readers who can read on their own. The pages were a bit busy for me but easy enough to read and little ones would especially like the pictures of all the undersea life.

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This is such a fun search and find book! The follow-up to Look for Ladybird in Plant City, we revisit Daisy, Basil and Ladybird at their detective agency. Since they’ve been working so hard they decide to have a holiday. But on a scuba diving trip Ladybird goes missing (again!). Cue another epic hunt, travelling through many different locations. On each action-packed spread there are a few different things to search for as well as plenty of hilarious little details.

It is pitched slightly above my son’s age at 3.5 as it’s only possible to use completely independently if the child can read (the items and characters to search for are not separately pictured as they are in other search and find series’), though of course there’s always Ladybird to find in his tiny submarine! But we’ve now read it so many times that he knows what he’s looking for on each spread anyway 🤣

The illustrations are quirky and colourful, making for an utterly engaging and visually appealing book.

With thanks for our gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

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I loved Where’s Wally as a child, and I couldn’t resist getting this book to share with my little girl. Readers get to join in Daisy and Basil’s search for Ladybird. But it won’t be easy, you’ll have to search the crowed Seaweed Central Station and busy Octopus Gardens.

Katherina’s illustrations are vibrant and packed with wonderful little details. There is so much to discover and enjoy on each page it’s a book you can read over and over again and never get bored.
This book is the Where’s Wally of the ocean but with the added bonus of having a cute story. We loved it!

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A perfect book for my 3 year old’s first seek and find book. He loves looking for ladybug in all of the different scenes. I loved how they incorporated a story as it went and multiple things to find on each page. Great illustrations and not too difficult for kids.

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This look-and-find book will have kids entertained for hours. All kids love putting on their detective hats and solving puzzles. Daisy and Basil, two detectives, along with their pet ladybug, decide they need a holiday and head for Ocean City. Along the way ladybug wanders away on her own causing her two owners to diligently track her whereabouts.

The undersea backdrop features ten different sites to explore and hopefully discover ladybug. The author adds multiple layers of difficulty as she piles on other things to search out. How fun is that? Will ladybug finally be reunited with her detective friends and all live happily ever after?

The ocean sites are busy, colourful and engaging which is perfect... just what a search-and-find book should be. Luckily the author has included a visual key to help those having difficulty spot their targets which is very, very helpful indeed. Manolessou has done an excellent job of weaving a story and a game into a book that both young and old will thoroughly enjoy. I highly recommend it.

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I requested and received an e-ARC of this book from NetGalley and Quatro Publishing Group in exchange for my honest opinion.

I really liked this book; the images were bright and colourful, and the puzzle pages were busy. The list of items that need to be found within each puzzle are difficult to find but not impossible. Each puzzle has a few more items to find which adds a bit of a challenge. I liked that the story is told throughout the whole book and that the answer pages are included at the back in case someone gets really stuck finding an object.

The only thing I wish this book had was pictures of the items that you are supposed to find within each puzzle.

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This book had mixed reviews in our house! Floss (3) and Dad loved this book. They really enjoyed spotting the ladybird and other creatures on each page. The illustrations are lovely and the page designs make it quite challenging to find the different items on each page, which is great. The images are really quirky and there are lots of things to explore, not only what the book asks you to find. For me the narrative that runs through the book isn't very cohesive and feels a little awkward in it's flow. However, I see this much more as a search and find book and therefore the narrative not so important. Floss and Dad gave it 5 stars/ me 3 - so overall 4!

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This book is definitely unique! Kids love being to find things in books like the I spy game! A great search and find along with a fun story.

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This is a good hide and seek book, you search for the cheeky ladybug as well as a list of other things to find. Can be adapted so smaller children just search for the ladybug whilst older children may like to find the ladybug as well as the list of other things, or you could even change the things they search for each time. Thank you Netgalley for letting me review this book.

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A lovely little activity book for children to enjoy at home - it is a little like where’s wally for a younger generation. Would make a great summer past time. Beautifully illustrated to create hours of fun!!

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This is a search-and-find picture book. While the illustrations are certainly detailed, the story left me a little cold. Daisy and Basil, for all of their talk about wanting to find their friend, don't really seem that concerned in some parts of their journey.

While Daisy and Basil are learning how to deep-sea dive, their friend Ladybug gets bored and unilaterally decides to play hide-and-seek. The game takes the trio through many different parts of the ocean, where there are lots of things to look for in the illustrations.

I have a couple of issues. One is that, on a couple of occasions, Daisy and Basil abandon the search for their friend so they can do fun things for themselves. They do this even while lamenting the loss of Ladybug and wondering if they will ever find him. (Do real friends stop to take in a show while their friend is missing?)

The other issue is the text itself. I realize it was probably compressed to fit within the illustrations, but clumping all the dialogue together into single paragraphs can get confusing. The technical aspects of the writing are also questionable in places, and at one point I thought I might've been reading a translation when I came across a sentence with two errors in it:

"The engineer pointed out a TWO SEALS CARRYING A ROCK, a FISH DRIVING A EXCAVATOR, and a CRAB WEARING EIGHT HELMETS."

Kids who like this kind of book likely won't notice these things and will just be engrossed by the search. There are (thankfully) answer keys at the back, just in case you can't find everything yourself. I had kind of a hard time with some objects, but that was mostly because they were too small for me to see clearly. I'm not sure how big the printed version is going to be, but reading the e-book on a small laptop screen is a bit tricky.

Overall, I'd probably recommend this to kids who enjoy search-and-find picture books. That aspect helps make up for the lacklustre story.

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Look for Ladybug in Ocean City is a look and find book by Katherina Manolessou. This picture book is so much fun!! I spent about an hour looking for Ladybug on each double page and all the extra things to search for. This children's book contains vibrant illustrations with such small details in every single underwater scene. I highly recommend this imaginative story for parents and children to experience together. With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital copy.

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A charmingly beautiful interactive book perfect for early readers! The story is captivating and children are encouraged to find many characters and things throughout the book on their search for Ladybug in Ocean City.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC.

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I absolutely love this little book! Cute story, great illustrations, and lots to talk about with your child. So much fun!

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