Hide and Seek First Words by Dawn Sirett (published by Dorling Kindersley) is a hardback picture book designed for pre-school and reception stage children to help them start recognising words and taking their first steps towards reading.

As you'd expect from DK books, it's filled with bright, clear illustrations to stimulate your child's imagination.

There's a little Buzzy Bee character hiding on each page, and the children I showed this book to enjoyed finding him very much - it turns reading the book into a game. And the book is designed to spark off lots of games, from I Spy to solving riddles.

This is quite a long book for a young child (over 40 pages), so I wouldn't expect to go through it all in one go. Get your child to pick a page and concentrate on a section at a time.

The subject matter is wide-ranging, from beach scenes to pirates to the home, meaning that there's plenty to engage both boys and girls. The large size of the book means that it would also work well with a group.

The Notes for Parents, set out at the start of the book, suggests ideas for thought-provoking conversations to complement the subjects discussed in the book. If you're a regular reader with your child then you may not need these suggestions, but they are a good back up.

The book also supports the National Curriculum Foundation Stage, ensuring that your child is learning the most up-to-date vocabulary to prepare them for pre-school. So whether you're teaching your child to read, or to speak English as a second language then this is a good learning aid.

At £7.99 this colourful hardback book is very good value for money, and a useful addition to your under five's bookshelf. You can see inside the book for yourself on the DK website.