See Bip Grow!

K-Gr 2–Space alien Zip’s back with smaller, diaper-wearing alien Bip for a new installment of Milgrim’s “Adventures of Zip” series. Ball in hand, Zip zaps Bip to “grow tall” so they can “play some ball.” As Zip bows proudly—“I am the best! / Far and away!”—Bip continues growing. And growing. And growing. Soon, Bip grows out of frame, big enough to blow away and fly “up, up, up / into the sky.” Zip tries to zap Bip back, but the zaps are “much too low” to have any effect. Bip makes it all the way into space—smiling and laughing at every step of the journey. Bip discovers their own zap, shrinks back to small, and falls down toward Zip. Now who’s the best? Rhyming text expertly repeats sight words and word families, along with a few “bonus words.” With at most six lines per double page spread and around 60 unique words, the text should be accessible to emerging readers just starting to read independently. The book introduces each word in a list before the story so readers can practice before reading. Milgrim’s expressive, bold-outlined characters pop off the pages, which have plenty of white space and few background details. The playful sense of scale and dynamic layouts heighten the humor. Discussion questions at the end of book not seen.