A message in code starts a little boy off on an exciting treasure hunt through a dark cave, an underground tunnel, and more—until at the end he finds a happy surprise. The Secret Birthday Message can also be used as a fun spring board for teaching some basic concepts. As Publishers Weekly notes: The book introduces "pattern recognition, matching shapes, map-reading, and directional relationships in full-color pages that allow preschoolers to participate fully in the enticing adventure." The nonprofit MathThroughStories organization recommends reading the book and then having "children hide a 'treasure' somewhere in the classroom and create their own map with directions for how to find the hidden treasure. Encourage the children to use geometric shapes to represent objects and furniture in the classroom. When the maps are finished, children give the map to another treasure hunter."
