ALL BY MYSELF!

When Mama's brood is left alone, chick imaginations run wild.

The wee narrator (identified with a little white arrow and the modest word "Me") begins to cry when Mama leaves the coop to go pecking for grain. And so do siblings Ivan and Lily and Leonard and Shirley, all in a row. The worry soon escalates to a frantic speculation that she may never come back! (The page turns black, with only wings and eyes visible.) And what will they do if a fox comes?! (One chick becomes a caped crusader while the others hold up signs intended to scare the predator away.) A sudden noise sends them all into a frenzy! But it's just Mama, back with dinner. She has special eating instructions for each of her babies, and readers learn that the narrator is called Anthony. He's also apparently the youngest, because he wants to be just like his brothers and sisters, and eat very quickly, all by himself. Saudo's stylish chicks look like golden M&Ms; their feet and wings are see-through and outlined in white. Her illustrations are full of quirky, mischievous touches sure to bring smiles.

This superlatively cute look at the bond between mother and child takes a proud place next to Martin Waddell and Patrick Benson’s Owl Babies (1992).  (Picture book. 3-5)