Pip and Zip

May 1, 2022
A world, closed up and waiting, sometimes holds small miracles. Two eggs at the edge of a lake are found by a family (two adults, two children, all light-skinned) on a masked, socially distanced walk during the pandemic shutdown. Their neighbor Ted, who has brown skin, explains that this can sometimes happen with ducks with their very first clutch of eggs. Since the wildlife center is open only for emergencies, Ted lends them an incubator. The eggs stay warm and watched by the children for days--"but everyone was waiting / anyway / all across the neighborhood / all around the world." At last the ducklings (Pip and Zip, named for terms used to describe the hatching process) break out of the shells. The pair grow under Ted's care, and by the time Pip and Zip are ready to be released into the wild, the world may have begun to come out of its shell as well. Emergence from a quiet, sheltered, strange time to the thrill of grown ducklings flying with others of their kind is a reminder that life contains moments of wonder. Friendly, cartoon, full-color illustrations offer the right amount of detail for the story, from a montage of the family waiting by the incubator to the flock of ducks in the sunshine. An author's note describes the true story of the duck eggs; backmatter explains what readers should do if they find a duck egg. (This book was reviewed digitally.) Gently engaging and cheerful. (websites) (Picture book. 3-7)

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May 15, 2022
Preschool-Grade 1 One spring, when schools and workplaces are closed, two sisters and their parents take a walk. At the lake, they discover two abandoned duck eggs. Mom carries them home in her coat pockets. Ted, the bird expert next door, lends them an incubator, and the girls wait 28 days for the eggs to hatch. Ted takes over the care of hatchlings Pip and Zip, but the children still watch the growing birds as they learn to waddle and to swim. When the ducklings are ready to fly, the family accompanies them to the lake to wave goodbye. An author's note explains that the story is based on a personal experience during the COVID-related "Safer at Home" period in 2020. There are also subtle references to the pandemic within the story. The pleasing, first-person text focuses on the children's fascination with the eggs and the ducklings. Digitally colored pencil drawings skillfully illustrate the story, and the later scenes on the lake are particularly fine. This rewarding picture book reads aloud well and could lead to worthwhile discussions.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from May 16, 2022
In a picture book set when “we all had to stay home for the whole long springtime,” a white-presenting family on a walk finds two eggs in the shallows of a park lake. The family’s brown-skinned neighbor, Ted, who has the distinct knowledge of a wildlife rehabilitation specialist, identifies them as duck eggs and lends the family an incubator. Loosely worked, digitally colored pencil vignettes by Salati (Hot Dog) show the family’s two children staying close to the incubating eggs on their kitchen table—doing homework, making art, celebrating a birthday—during the 28–day wait, which Arnold (An Ordinary Day) situates within the context of a planet in a moment of pause (“all across the neighborhood/ all around the world”). When both eggs hatch, the family is elated, and Ted is, too: “In all my years working with birds, this is a first.” And as the ducklings mature (the artist captures with care the patterns of their feathers, the graceful curves of their bodies, and their delight in each other’s company), the story cherishes this small triumph amid tension and despair, ending on an upswing that parallels their release with a second venturing-out “into the great blue world.” Ages 3–6.