The Surprise Family

We found this book a delightful surprise. The story is quite sweet and the repetition comforting. My 2+1/2 year old has made this one of his favorites. The protectiveness of both the boy as mama and then the hen as mama is wonderfully reinforcing. We love to enact the mama hen's danger squalk and danger dance. The rhyming and pacing of the story make it fun for a read aloud, especially when you have to do it over and over again. I also find the balance of artwork and white space and the size of the text on the page to make it even that more appealing. Our son even loves to study the cover of the book which represents the whole story line in picture vignettes if you follow the squares arround the border.I would also highly recommend this book as a novel way to introduce the concept of family diversity and/or adoption too.