Peep, a bright yellow chick, is on an outing with his mom and sisters when they come to a steep curb in the sidewalk. His sisters float down effortlessly, but Peep doesn't think it's safe. He gives it a try, but it's too scary; he testily refuses to budge, then feigns illness in order to go back home. Ultimately, with encouragement from his family, he makes it over the edge. Cheerful greens and yellows on white pages highlight this fine entry in van Lieshout's A Little Book series. The sophisticated, spare, and slightly messy line drawings expertly express Peep's frustration, fear, and ultimately relieved triumph. In fact, they may remind young viewers of their own Crayola scrawls, with Peep's coloring often appearing outside the lines. This humorous tale doesn't preach fearlessness but rather sympathizes with the little chick's apprehension, and young children will be heartened by Peep's struggle when facing their own fears.--Jones, Courtney Copyright 2009 Booklist

The art and typography - spare, against a white background - nearly jump off the page as the smallest of four chicks stumbles along in line after the mother hen. "Peep's sisters hopped off the sidewalk. Peep looked over the edge. 'Oh, no!' he gasped. 'I can't!'" (Most effective is the shouted "MOM!!" of frustration, so big it runs off the page.) The message of overcoming hurdles is a bit obvious - just in time for graduation - but the wit of the drawings - in pencil, ink, watercolor and computer - makes the book very appealing.

The author/illustrator of Splash! A Little Book About Bouncing Back (2008) offers another diminutive dose of bibliobehavior-modeling. Already anxious about a green balloon that seems to be following along, a small chick comes to a curb from which his mother and sisters have already hopped and gets stuck. After several false starts and much urging he nerves himself at last to make the jump, but his triumph is short-lived; not only does the balloon suddenly burst, but then little Peep is left behind again when everyone else hops up over another curb. The new obstacle looks impossibly high in van Lieshout's very simple yellow-and-black line drawings, and seeing little Peep in an even more challenging new plight isn't likely to give very young children a positive impression. Emotions are writ large here despite the small trim size, but fear-dispellers like Jane Simmons's Come Along, Daisy! (1998) or Martin Waddell's Tiny's Big Adventure, illustrated by John Lawrence (2004), will provide more convincing reassurance. (Picture book. 4-6) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Out for a walk, mama hen and her brood come to a sidewalk's edge. Peep's sisters make the leap, but he chickens out. Electric yellow and green watercolors spill through the delicate line drawings. The text occasionally breaks the boundaries of the pages (designed by Molly Leach) to echo Peep's panic and eventual triumph. An effective (though purposeful) depiction of overcoming fear. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

PreS-Gr 2-Peep is a baby chick who follows his mother and sisters along the sidewalk, but when his sisters jump confidently off the edge, Peep hesitates. His reactions run the gamut from nervous to angry to terrified, and when he finally gulps and takes that leap, he's overjoyed at his own prowess. But new challenges always await; for Peep, it's the curb that he must climb next. The illustrations, rendered in pencil, ink, and watercolor, make terrifically effective use of color and white space; Peep's mother and sisters remain sketched in black line, but Peep is always highlighted with a wash of yellow, and in his moment of triumph, the whole page turns yellow with him. Size, font, and placement of the text change throughout to match the emotions of the story. This deceptively simple-looking little offering is a virtual master class in the subtle techniques for effective picture-book creation.-Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Carroll County Public Library, MD (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.