Peeping Beauty

In a buoyant spring story, chicken parents and their two big chicks await the arrival of three new siblings. In the morning, the first two chicks hatch with a “quiver, shiver, crackle, peep!” The fluffy big sister and brother are eager for their last sibling to arrive, but the egg isn’t quite ready yet. The big chicks “hatch a plan” to coax the last one out; big sister wears a pink cowboy hat and strums a guitar (“with a cluck-cluck here”) and big brother performs a comedy set for the community of barnyard animals. But after Mama reads the story of “Peeping Beauty” to the family and they all offer the egg “a little extra love,” out comes... not one chick, but two. Waring illustrates in jewel-toned art, capturing the excitement of a growing family. Ages 4–7.[em] (Feb.) [/em]