Have You Seen Axel? is a seek-and-find that embraces the premise, then twists it, adds a narrative and ends up with something original and entertaining.

Have You Seen Axel? is well worth seeing for young readers aged 4-8

We haven’t seen Gordon. Have You Seen Axel? is the sequel to Have You Seen Gordon?. Coincidentally, you can see Axel in the mirrored sunglasses that Gordon is wearing on Have You Seen Axel?. Gordon is a panda. He looks quite dapper and cool on the book’s cover. Have You Seen Axel? is a seek-and-find book. These types of books by their very nature are intended for elementary school-aged students and this one is no exception.

Have You Seen Axel? is a seek-and-find that embraces the premise, then twists it, adds a narrative and ends up with something original and entertaining.

The difference in this book’s case is that it’s much more meta than others in the same category. It is a seek-and-find book, but there’s also a wacky narrative story happening throughout the book. Have You Seen Axel? seems like the book is asking if young readers can find Axel. It truly is the season for axolotls in kidlit, isn’t it? This is the third book we’ve read in the past nine month for this niche animal. The capybara is so 2025.

Have You Seen Axel? is a seek-and-find that embraces the premise, then twists it, adds a narrative and ends up with something original and entertaining.

Have You Seen Axel? starts with the book’s text speaking to the audience. It’s asking, via the text, who the book should choose for young readers to locate. The book suggests Gordon, only for him to gamely state in a speech bubble that he’s in the middle of the park eating lunch.

Have You Seen Axel? is a seek-and-find that embraces the premise, then twists it, adds a narrative and ends up with something original and entertaining.

The second series of pages takes place in a supermarket. The text asks audiences if Gordon is near the tortilla chips or in one of the other aisles. As your eyes naturally scan across the pages, you’ll see a noisy, pink axolotl near the ice cream who’s asking to say something. It’s at this point in the book where its meta aspect rears its head. The book’s narrator responds to the axolotl and asks him to be quiet, because this is Gordon’s book.

Have You Seen Axel? is a seek-and-find that embraces the premise, then twists it, adds a narrative and ends up with something original and entertaining.

The third series of pages is a movie theater, with the narrator asking audiences to find Gordon. Axel bumps in front of the audience, pointing out that it’s too easy to find Gordon because a light is illuminating his large, purple head. The narrator tells Axel that he was being rude. This causes a give and take between the two with Gordon jumping in to agree with Axel. The book’s narrator then pivots to make it a seek-and-find with Axel as its star.

Axel is pumped to be the star of her own book, but is too effective at hiding. One her first solo page of hiding the narrator has to remind her to be somewhat obvious and not 100% obscured. On her next page readers can at least see her eye, but the narrator has to further clarify the seek-and-find parameters.

Have You Seen Axel? is a seek-and-find that embraces the premise, then twists it, adds a narrative and ends up with something original and entertaining.

The narrator and Axel have a couple of good, traditional seek-and-find action pages, with multiple dozen animals crowding the train station and the park. However, Axel gets some sticky ice cream on her hands and is getting tired. She’s also getting a little grumpy. The narrator tells her that this is a different book and you can’t just ‘take a break’. Axel suggests that the narrator tell a fairy tale or a poem.

Have You Seen Axel? is a seek-and-find that embraces the premise, then twists it, adds a narrative and ends up with something original and entertaining.

Axel goes to her bedroom for some alone time, but the book follows her there. She runs out of her house and through town, while the book’s narrator is following (and mocking) her. They continue to a downtown scene where Gordon appears again with a possible solution. He suggests something that everyone can learn from, which in turn extends the page count and reinvigorates the story in Have You Seen Axel?.

The result from that final pivot allows an already fast story to pick up speed into its final four pages. Have You Seen Axel? has the familiar elements elementary ages expect to see, but throws them on its side in a manner that makes them laugh out loud. They’ll roll on their sides the first time they listen to the book. When they have some alone time with the book they’ll get lost in the illustrations looking for Axel, Gordon or one of the other funny animals or situations. It’s the second book in a series that makes us want to read the first book that inspired it. Have You Seen Axel? is an entertaining illustrated book that lives somewhere between a seek-and-find, with its busy, manic fun, and a wall-breaking story that makes kids laugh. It’s an illustrated book that pre-k through third grade will laugh and love for different reasons.

Have You Seen Axel? is by Adam Jay Epstein with illustrations by Ruth Chan and is available on Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers, an imprint on Simon & Schuster.

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