Murray, Lily. Five Little Chicks. Holly Surplice, Illus. Candlewick /Templar, 12/2023. [24]pp. Picture Book. Trade $16.99. 978-1-5362-3261-5. GRADES Baby/Toddler–Kindergarten. ADDITIONAL.
In this variation on the nursery song and fingerplay “Five Little Ducks Went Out One Day,” five chicks leave mother hen one by one until they reunite. This will be fun for storytime, even with the lyric changes. The brightly colored, mixed media illustrations resemble gouache, showing the animals on the farm and in close-up. There are flaps to lift to search for the missing chicks, counting them as the reader finds them. There are words for the number to be counted, but the numerals are only featured at the end, to recount one to ten. Not a must-have, but a nice supplementary storytime choice.
Penny Peck—SJSU iSchool