Peeper and Zeep

When Peeper and Zeep both crash and get lost in the woods at the same time, they must work together to reunite with their families. This fun story draws similarities between Peeper, a bird, and Zeep, an alien, to subtly imply that we all have things in common, in spite of outward differences. An imaginative inventor frog rounds out the cast of characters, and the three must overcome setbacks to find a solution that works. There is no moralizing, but the story clearly sets forth the value of teamwork, effort, and perseverance. The book is clearly designed with beginning readers in mind as it takes advantage of some repetition and parallelism and uses short words and sentences. The illustrations are big and bold but somewhat simple, mimicking the type of artwork a child might draw. Young fans will love that a published book has illustrations that look like theirs and will find it easy to draw their own Peeper and Zeep fan art if they wish. A good choice for new readers and their families.