Special Delivery

PreS–The main character, a young bird, expects a baby brother to arrive at the door, but instead finds itself accepting the delivery of multiple animals, from a mouse to an elephant, before the overconfident delivery turtle realizes his “mistake.” Children who will soon become older siblings will love this story’s silliness. The repetitive nature of the text, presented as floating dialogue in the illustrated scenes, is a welcome, predictable feature for young children, though the higher vocabulary level promotes possible use as a read-aloud experience between parent and child. But the impression that new additions to a family, or its existing members, must all look alike is a worrisome perception and may require further discussion. Keeping things humorous are Kruszynski’s illlustrations; he segments the space cleanly to mold bubbly, brightly colored characters from simple, flat color planes to match the playful vibe of the animals’ growing frenzy.