Hurry! Hurry! (by Eve Bunting)

What's got chicken so excited in the barnyard? Hurry! Hurry! All the animals rush to see!

This simple book takes place in the preschool-familiar world of the friendly farmyard. Each page has one or two words, each repeated twice: "Coming! Coming!" says the goat; "Go! Go!" says the sheep. Most of the time it's the grown-up animals encouraging their little ones to move just a little faster, something every kid (and their parent) can relate to.

It's the pictures that make this simple book work. Set against a backdrop of pastoral green hills, trees like stems of broccoli, and cotton-candy clouds in a subdued blue sky, this is the coziest farmyard this side of Margaret Wise Brown. The illustrators' acrylics on watercolor effectively convey the fur and fuzz on every baby sheep and duckling, making all the animals irresistibly soft and comfortable. Parents can make the book last a little bit longer by helping their kids imitate the bleating, clucking, quacking language of the animals on each page.

Author: Eve Bunting
Illustrator: David Macaulay, Jeff Mack
Publisher: Harcourt
Publication date: February 25, 2007
Number of pages: 40
Hardcover price: $16.00
Read Aloud: 1
Read Alone: 4