From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 1AThis boldly illustrated picture book opens with huge beaks sticking out of three eggshells held up by spindly bird legs. The text reads, "Peck peck pop." So begins the story of three crows, two black and one white, as they take their first tottering steps and follow the large parent bird. The adult offers encouragement and support. In less than 50 words and sounds, the message is loud and clear: One might have to walk before one flies, but one won't fly unless one tries. Several of the pages have gatefolds that are effective for showing the varying perspectives, such as birds hovering above the down-to-earth action and borderless pictures reaching beyond the parameters of the individual page. The arrangement of unfolding pages is random, however, and not easily spotted.AMarlene Gawron, Orange County Library, Orlando, FL
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
An extremely brief text describes the comical adventures of baby birds learning to fly, while several fold-out pages dramatize the action. ``Peck peck pop'' is the text for the first spread, showing the babies' exaggerated pointy orange beaks and matching feet emerging from three white eggs in the grass. ``Walk walk'' is the second; a glowering parent leads them off. One of them hides, instigating readers to lift up the page, which extends full-size, doubling the book's vertical size. The brief, rhyming text is enjoyable to recite aloud and will be easy for toddlers to memorize. The denouement shows all the birds flying into the sky with an enormous golden sun in the background, in a spread that folds out to twice the size of the others. Repeated folding will put a strain on this book in an institutional setting, but the humor of the birds' expressions and the bold and stylized art easily recommend this for the board-book set. (Picture book. 2-5) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
