Review Detail

Molly, Olive, and Dexter: The Guessing Game

Kids Fiction 176

I Spy Something Lovely

August 06, 2024

Overall rating

4.3

Plot

4.0

Characters

4.0

Writing Style

4.0

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

5.0

The illustrations on this are absolutely exquisite. There's subtle layering that adds a feeling of depth and movement, and this is highlighted even more on the cover, where there are some glittery foil branches. Rayner has a distinctive style, and I'm not surprised that she has her own line of greetings cards. Something about her illustrations made me think of 1970s Current Catalog artists like Ruth Morehead.

The animals are quite engaging, with animated faces and delicate whiskers. The trees and background don't overpower the animals, but the attention to detail on the leaves really distracted me. I could easily see an entire nursery decorated in the style of this book.

The text is short, and young readers will probably guess what the loveliest two things are before Molly and Dexter do. This seems like the sort of book that will be a fast favorite, so prepare for multiple readings if you introduce this to a young person in your life.

I'm a sucker for books with adorable forest animals, like Hendrick and Scott's Forest Friends Sleep, Banks' The Winter Bird, Volpe's Before We Sleep, or even McBratney and Jeram's Guess How Much I Love You, which may involve cousins of Molly's. There's something particularly soothing and "lovely" about reading stories which involves cuddly versions of forest creatures getting along together and having adventures.

Good Points

Molly (a hare), Ollie (an owl), and Dexter (a fox), are unlikely friends, but spend their days blissfully playing in a gorgeous forest. In a previous volume, they played hide and seek, but have now turned their attention to their version of I Spy. Some of the answers are easy, like the sky that Dexter is looking at, or the grass that Molly has in her mouth. When Ollie says that he is thinking about TWO things, Molly and Dexter are thrown into confusion. Is it two leaves? Two clouds? Ollie says that both of the things are "lovely", so the friends turn their guesses to flowers and butterflies. Unable to get the right answer, the two are frustrated, and Ollie tells them to think harder about the two loveliest things in the world. The friends are stumped until they look at each other... and realize that Ollie is talking about THEM.