PICCOLO AND THE CHICKS

A handsome shrew cares for half a dozen chicks.

Piccolo, a small brown critter dressed in a red cap and scarf, lives in an imagined Italian city called Bella Città. Today he’s babysitting for Mrs. Gallina, a mother hen to six yellow chicks. The adorable fluffballs are too excited to nap, so Piccolo takes them to the park. While they’re all playing a game of nascondino (hide-and-seek), the chicks scatter. Piccolo opens his eyes to find them, but only one chick has stayed in the park. Now he must seek throughout the city! He searches through gorgeous cobblestone streets, finding one chick at the opera, another atop a statue, and one more peeping out of a picnic basket. Just as he spots one chick, another (inevitably) strays. A particularly visually satisfying hiding spot is a chick concealed within a plethora of yellow produce (bananas! mangos! apples! lemons!) at a farmers market. Whereas Piccolo’s previous outing introduced the Città’s many pleasures, this book uses its attractive setting to focus on a singular silly storyline. A well-selected handful of Italian phrases are smoothly integrated into the text, their meanings easily inferred from textual and visual context, with translations appended. Yaccarino’s blocky art, which relies on bright colors and solid yet nimble linework, deftly conveys the contours of Piccolo’s world.

Stylish and smart, a perfectly put-together picture book.