Little Naomi, Little Chick / written by Avirama Golan ; illustrated by Raaya Karas ; translated from the Hebrew by Annette Appel.

Little Naomi has a busy day! She gets ready for school, plays with all her friends, builds with blocks, bakes mud pies, colors pictures, eats lunch, and helps mom with the shopping. Little Chick has to stay at home with the other barnyard animals, but that doesn't stop him from having adventures of his own.

In this sweet and fun book, two parallel stories run side-by-side, linked by the implicit friendship between Naomi and Little Chick and brought to life by endearing illustrations.

Reviews (5)

School Library Journal Review

PreS-K-Children follow a parallel day in the lives of a girl and a chick in this charmingly illustrated tale. Little Naomi and Little Chick begin their day with the rooster's call but then go in very different directions. Or do they? While the child's day begins with greeting preschool friends, Little Chick also meets up with her friends, including a duck, a sheep, and a delightfully drawn mole. Little Naomi builds a tower of blocks while Little Chick creates a tower of friends, standing on one another's heads. Finger painting may be fun for Little Naomi, but Little Chick can make pictures, too, with a little mud and some unique footprints. While Little Naomi's eating, shopping, and swinging are all fine for a little girl, Little Chick can find similar things that are equally fun, including bath time at the end of the day. Then, it's bedtime and once again, Little Naomi and Little Chick share snuggles in their very own way. Sweetly illustrated in crayon and pencil, this book will appeal to parents and children as an amusing and endearing bedtime story. While the events of Little Naomi's day command the most text, Little Chick steals the story in the lovable, entertaining illustrations. A quality addition.-Carol Connor, Cincinnati Public Schools, OH (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publisher's Weekly Review

In a story first published in Israel, Golan and Karas follow a human preschooler and a tiny yellow chick through their days. Golan relates Naomi's experiences through loosely rhymed text with a somewhat haphazard structure; on opposing pages, Little Chick's day unfolds visually though full-bleed crayon and pencil illustrations whose delicacy is suggestive of Erin Stead's picture books. Naomi awakens and has an eventful day at preschool ("Naomi plays with blocks/ and builds a tower,/ feeds the dolls/ and picks some flowers") before spending the afternoon with her mother and settling down to bed. Little Chick, meanwhile, has fun playing with barnyard friends, making a mess of hanging laundry, and preparing to sleep. Spot illustrations of Naomi appear underneath the text passages; in a neat visual analogue, Naomi wears a pair of ladybug antennae with her polka-dot dress, while Little Chick has two feathers bobbing from its head. Readers may be surprised that the two stories never intersect in any meaningful way, and the recurring refrain, "But not Little Chick," is somewhat odd given how parallel, if species-specific, Naomi and Little Chick's days actually are. Ages 3-6. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Horn Book Review

This clever book tells two stories, one about a preschooler named Naomi, the other about a little chick. The girl starts her day with a big wake-up stretch, some tooth-brushing, and breakfast. Then it's off to preschool for Naomi..."But not Little Chick." Left-hand pages describe Naomi's typical day--playing with friends, listening to stories, finger-painting, swinging at the playground--with spare, tidy spot art at the bottom of the pages illustrating the activities. Meanwhile, on right-hand pages, Little Chick's day on the farm unfolds in expansive, comical, crayon and pencil illustrations. The chick and its friends--a duck, a mole, and a sheep--have small adventures that loosely parallel Naomi's experiences: while she's eating lunch, for example, Little Chick and the duck tug worms out of the ground for their own midday snack. Although the farm story is wordless, the illustrations say it all, capturing, through cartoony creatures and slapstick reaction shots, the tale's humor and also its warmth. For Naomi's part, the text in sometime-rhyme (not the translation's strong point) is simple and accessible, with the refrain "But not Little Chick" leading children straight from Naomi's familiar activities back into that silly farm-animal setting. Several visual elements--the deely-boppers on Naomi's head resemble Little Chick's tufts of feathers, for example, and there is a picture of Little Chick on Naomi's bedroom wall--gracefully unite these two worlds of play. elissa gershowitz (c) Copyright 2014. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Review

A delightful depiction of the parallel lives of a young girl and a tiny chick from dawn to dusk. Preschooler Naomi stretches to greet the day while a picture of a wide-eyed yellow chick looks on passively from the wall behind her bed. Appel's lithe translation from the Hebrew of Golan's plain, lightly rhymed verse describes consecutive phases of a typical day in the little girl's life, with each segment ending with the refrain, "But not Little Chick." Awakened by her father, Naomi brushes her teeth, eats, goes to preschool, plays, makes art, listens to a story, naps, goes shopping with her mother, puts on her pajamas and eventually hops back into bed with her stuffed bear--"But not Little Chick." Those following the text alone might think the only thing Little Chick has in common with Naomi is "snuggl[ing] in for the night" and feel a bit sorry for her. But the visual narrative portrayed in Karas' warmly expressive crayon-and-pencil illustrations on the right side of each spread reveals an equally adventuresome, action-packed day for Little Chick. Pre-readers are sure to revel in the hilarious mischief Little Chick enjoys with barnyard friends, while those reading to them will be fascinated by the effective conveyance of this information through images alone. The true essence of a picture book: a unique balance of visual and written narrative sure to enchant young and old alike. (Picture book. 3-6)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

Little Naomi is ready to go off to preschool but not Little Chick. Although the forlorn yellow chick realizes she is left behind, her day is equally adventuresome. Naomi's world is full of new friends, her teachers, and playtime. Little Chick's environment contains barnyard animals sheep, chickens, geese, a mole, and ducks. Throughout the day, while Naomi builds with blocks, finger paints, eats lunch, naps, and returns home, Little Chick mirrors her activities with farmyard frolic. The animals build a pyramid, squish through the mud, share an earthworm, and nap together in a flowered sheet which Mrs. Sheep humorously liberates from the clothesline. Told in gentle rhymes, the busy daily activities of a young child and her barnyard counterpart are charmingly illustrated in crayon and pencil. Naomi's red polka-dot dress and matching red sandals contrast with Chick's bright-yellow fluff. At the end of the day, bath time for both and lullabies all around for the sleepy twosome, each comfortable in her own spot.--Gepson, Lolly Copyright 2010 Booklist

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