Seven Hungry Babies

PreS-Gr 1 In this bouncy, onomatopoeic tale, a mother bird coos as she flies hither and yon to bring back delicacies to feed her newly hatched chicks. With a "flappa-flap, swoop-swoop, zoom-zoom, YUM!" the increasingly frazzled mama shuttles back and forth, leaving one satisfied and sleeping chick each time, until the whole nestful is nappingbut wait, they're all awake and hungry again. In the satisfying conclusion, Mama turns to resting Daddy to take over the catering chores. Fleming's playful text features endearments that will tickle listeners ("precious cuddle fluffs"; "little egg-crackers") and a rhythm that sweeps the story along. The fresh gouache illustrations are awash in blues and white with fire-bright red and yellow birds and feature expressive faces on the avian stars. With unexpected perspectives as well as text that sometimes nestles, sometimes swoops across the page, this book is perfect for group storytimes and one-on-one reading."Marge Loch-Wouters, La Crosse Public Library, WI" Copyright 2010 Media Source Inc.