CHEEP, CHEEP!

Find the chick as it hides and cheeps on a farm.

Beginning right on the cover, the cheery yellow chick takes center stage. An indented circle, easy for small fingers to find and with a clear directional arrow, slides to reveal a carrot top, bee, and worm in three openings. The chick’s cheeps on subsequent pages hint at where to find the chick. A sliding, smiling sun paired with the text “Cock-a-doodle-cheep” shares the page with windows in which a rooster and a bee appear. The chick hides in a wheelbarrow next to a brown-skinned female farmer. A large pull-tab hides the chick behind a horse and then a cow on back-to-back pages. (For this maneuver to work, the large pull-tab must be closed before the page is turned.) The most difficult element to manipulate is a tractor moving across a field. Finally: “Shh, shh, zzz…”—all the animals are asleep behind two sturdy barn-door flaps, and the brown-skinned farmer rests her hand comfortably in the crook of a light-skinned farmer’s arm. The final spread is review: “What did you find on the farm?” with nine previously shown items labeled. Simple text, questions on each spread, clear illustrations, and things to move make this a likely hit for older toddlers and preschoolers.

Sturdy, engaging, and fun—sure to slide into the hands of many a little one.