CHOO-CHOO PEEKABOO is a sturdy, brightly coloured, lift the flap book which makes early reading fun. The main character, Zebra introduced us to numbers in Peekaboo 123 and letters in Peekaboo A to Z and in CHOO-CHOO PEEKABOO we are introduced to a variety of animals and vehicles that interrupt Zebra as he tries to find a quiet place to paint.
The Story: Zebra gets up early to spend the day doing his favourite thing – painting. But he struggles to find a quiet spot to paint, every time he settles down to work he is interrupted by animals and their different vehicles, even when he tries to paint at night. Can Zebra find a way to include the animals in his hobby…?
Zebra tries painting in the busy city, at the top of a mountain, in the countryside, down by the river and by the lake but his peace and quiet is shattered every time. Dalmatians on dirt bikes, rowdy rabbits on roller skates, cows in cable cars and even sheep in a spaceship interrupt Zebra’s painting sessions until he realises that getting the animals involved may help him. He surprises them by getting an old bus and asking them to paint an ‘Animal Art Bus’ to take them on a painting holiday.
The story is simple and fun to read and the text is full of wonderful onomatopoeia and alliteration – we particularly love ‘Beep beep! Boisterous baboons bounced off a broken-down bus’.
Gareth Lucas’ bright, bold illustrations are full of humour and life and his animals have so much character. Each spread has two sturdy flaps to peek under, we love this interpretation of Constable’s Hay Wain which is a calm, relaxing picture until you lift the flap…
…and peace is shattered!
CHOO-CHOO PEEKABOO provides so many opportunities for learning and discussion and would make a great addition to an Early Years’ classroom. There are so many different animals to talk about and count, vehicles to spot and children could even be encouraged to create their own alliterative phrase. Inspired by the flamingo in the book we came up with ‘five fancy flamingos fighting fires with fire engines’.
This would be a fabulous book to give to a new baby or a toddler who loves any kind of vehicle.
Age Range: 1+
Author / Illustrator: Gareth Lucas
Thank you to Little Tiger Press for sending us a copy of CHOO-CHOO PEEKABOO. We love the way that Gareth’s books provide so much scope for learning in a fun way.
Leave a Reply