Tippy-Toe Chick, Go!

Rating:
Summary: Dawdle chickling
Review: Adult readers like to think they're smart enough to read picture books. They like to believe that picture books hold no surprises for them and that the smartest picture books in the world are no match for grown-up wisdom and experience. That's why I always appreciate those picture books that offer the unexpected. Child readers know better than their parental counterparts. They're aware that at any moment a picture book can offer surprising delights and plot twists. After reading through "Tippy-Toe Chick, GO!" I remembered this. At first the book looks like one of those stories in which a baby chicken following her mother and siblings becomes so entranced with the world around her that she becomes lost and confused. There are roughly 5 million picture books with this exact plot. Instead, and to my vast relief, the story was about a baby chick that uses its special skills to defeat an enemy of vast proportions and, as a result, win the love of her fellows. And it's cute too.

We meet a mother hen and her three chicks. Wearing a Charlie Brownish expression of permanent worry, the hen takes her chicks every day to the nearby garden to eat itty-bitty beans and potato bugs (their favorite treat). Big Chick and Middle Chick follow obediently but Little Chick tends to dawdle along to observe the world around her. When she sees that she has fallen behind she runs "tippy-toe, tippy-toe" to catch up. This routine happens with great regularity until one day a dog on a rope prevents the family from making their daily garden run. The chicks are, needless to say, put out. To stop the dog the Big Chick attempts to reason with the dog. No good. Then the Middle Chick tries threats. No good. Finally, the Little Chick decides to try her hand (in spite of the laughter of her siblings). She runs "tippy-toe, tippy-toe" at the dog and around a tree. The dog follows angrily until it gets caught and the others are able to safely get to the garden. The last shot is of Little Chick descending on a large juicy potato bug with the word, "YUM!".

With a catchy title like, "Tippy-Toe Chick, GO!" you'd kind of expect the book to be of the rhyming variety. This is not the case. Though there's a lot of enjoyment to be had in reading "tippy-toe, tippy-toe" over and over, that's about as rhythmic as it gets. The text is rather straightforward, but with a nature that's fun. Some words are in bold or capitalized to help adult readers know what phrases to stress. I'm not sure if there's a moral to the story beyond, "Little people can help too" (a staple in children's literature and folktales). Are we supposed to learn something when reason and violence don't work against opponents? Are we to assume that outsmarting them is the only recourse left? Or am I reading too much into a 27 page picture book? Whatever the case, the illustrations to this story are as simple as the text. Drawn by artist Laura Dronzek (married, as it happens, to the fabulous children's author/artist Kevin Henkes of "Lily's Purple Plastic Purse" fame), the pictures are big, bright, and colorful. With minimum expressions, Dronzek is able to convey each animal's emotions perfectly. The pictures are broken up nicely into full colorful spreads, images where characters react on a pure white background, and (in at least one case) four individual pictures spanning two pages. Altogether, the artist has matched her illustrations nicely to the story.

"Tippy-Toe Chick, GO!" isn't the most original picture book out there today, but it's one of the nicest. And while kids probably won't go gagga over it (as they would with, say, "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus") they'll like it quite a lot. If you're the kind of person who enjoys reading catchy phrases like "tippy-toe, tippy-toe" and want a picture book that teaches a basic lesson about individual talents, this chick's for you.


Rating:
Summary: An upbeat tale of finding one's hidden strengths
Review: George Shannon's Tippy-Toe Chick, GO! is an engaging and recommended children's picturebook about a resourceful little yellow chick who must use her cleverness and speed to outwit a fierce dog that is blocking the way to food for her whole family. An upbeat tale of finding one's hidden strengths told with singsong prose and illustrated in vibrant colors by Laura Dronzek.

Rating:
Summary: Tippy Toe Chick Go
Review: This is a perfect book. The author packs an amazing amount of story per word - all with fun-to-read rhythm. The illustrations are great, too - priceless expressions on the poultry. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.