Vanderlee, Lana. I’ll Be a Chicken, Too. Mike Deas, Illus. Orca, 05/2023. [22]pp. Picture Book. Trade $10.95. 978-1-4598-3555-9. GRADES Baby/Toddler – Preschool. OUTSTANDING.
In this board book, the rhyming text is made up of dialogue from various parents, telling their children how much they are loved: “If you can bark and wag your tail, well, then I’ll be a dog. And if you live on lily pads, of course, I’ll be a frog!” Similar to Margaret Wise Brown’s classic Runaway Bunny, (Harper, 1942), this features a variety of human caregivers representing different ethnicities, instead of animal parents. The full-color illustrations resemble gouache artwork in a cartoon style, showing both the children and parents as well as the animals they are imitating by swimming, hopping, playing, etc. A great choice for a readaloud; the publisher may want to reissue in a larger size to make it more accessible for group sharing.
Penny Peck—San Jose State University iSchool