CBR15Passport author 
What happens when you are looking for the best snack ever and all you can find are some messy slugs? Well, you do what Spreckle does in Spreckle’s Snack Surprise. You fly the coop. And maybe I should have led with this, but Spreckle lives on a farm with their fuzzy brothers and sisters and feathery mom in a chicken coop. And even though they do not look like each other, there is lots of love to go around and a warm nest to snuggle in. You see, Sandra Salsbury’s Spreckle is probably not a chicken like their family. And in the search for that perfect snack, we learn that family and experimenting, some disappointment and joy can all come together when you least expect it and can give you the best surprise of them all.
Of course, the adult reader knows what the perfect snack is, and will know that Spreckle will find where they belong, so it is no surprise there, but the child reader/listener might be not as “with it.” And while it is just a nice, straight forward story about being a little different, and being a slightly picky eater, it does have a more subtle approach to adoption/foster families.
The artwork is a fun addition to a story that is probably familiar (be different, learn, grow, make mistakes, family is good), and gives it a newer look. We have a dragon on the farm, and you have funny little things on each page to look at. There is color and minimal detail to make it not overwhelming. It is a cozy story with cozy art.
Due in July 2023 I can see this as a great gift to give to your own special little one ages three/four and up.
