A boy treks through Africa on a wild safari, hunting for a lion and finding many other animals--which turn out to be his grandmother's creatively shaped cookies. - (Baker & Taylor)

A little child, harnessing the power of imagination, transforms his grandmother's kitchen into an African savanna where her freshly baked animal cookies turn into wild elephants, hippos, and ostriches. - (Baker & Taylor)

Grab your binoculars
and follow me.
Let's travel far away
on a wild safari.

There are lots of fun trails!
Many sights to see!
As we hike, hike, hike,
on this wild safari. - (Simon and Schuster)

Jan Peck has written stories and articles in Highlights for Children, Boys' Life, Humpty Dumpty, and Turtle magazines. In adition, she is the author of The Giant Carrot, illustrated by Barry Root, and her story "The Perfect Dog" is in the best-selling book Chicken Soup for the Kid's Soul. Her previous picture book with Simon & Schuster is Way Down Deep in the Deep Blue Sea. She resides in Texas.

Valeria Petrone has illustrated several books for children, including Ducks in Muck by Lori Haskins, Say Cheese! by Nancy Smiler Levinson, and Uh-Oh! by Marion Dane Bauer. She is the illustrator for Plumply, Dumply Pumpkin by Mary Serfozo and, most recently, illustrated Way Down Deep in the Deep Blue Sea. She currently lives in Italy. - (Simon and Schuster)

Horn Book Guide Reviews

A boy in a pith helmet hunts "for a lion / for my grandma and me," meeting nine wild animals along the way. In the end it's revealed that the boy is really in the kitchen with Grandma, who is baking animal-shaped cookies. The forced, rhythmic verse leans on repetition to move it forward. The cartoony digitally rendered illustrations are undistinguished. Copyright 2006 Horn Book Guide Reviews.

Kirkus Reviews

A round-eyed inquisitive little boy bravely takes a safari trip in search of a wild lion. Along the way he spies a spraying elephant, tall giraffe, slushing hippopotamus, zigzagging zebra, charging rhinoceros, spying gorilla, snorting wildebeest, laughing hyena and dancing ostrich, all with similar round eyes and friendly faces. When an amicable, yet roaring lion, appears on his final encounter, it is time to say good-bye to his previous sightings and return to the safety of grandma's kitchen and her freshly baked animal cookies. Digitally rendered large cartoon-style paintings in bold, bright colors against dark green and mustard yellow backgrounds reflect the playful imaginative scenario described in the repetitive patterned text. Preschoolers and emerging readers will enjoy picking up their binoculars for a far away wild safari search. (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright Kirkus 2006 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved.

School Library Journal Reviews

PreS-K -Following on the heels of Way Down Deep in the Deep Blue Sea (2004) and Way Up High in a Tall Green Tree (2005, both S & S), Peck and Petrone feature a pith-helmeted boy visiting the animals of the African savannah. Each spread focuses on one animal with six rhythmic, patterned lines of text featuring an action the creature is taking (sloshing, spying, roaring, zigzagging, etc). In the end, the animals are revealed to be cookies baked by Grandma. The full-color illustrations are digitally rendered in bold lines and bright colors. Although there is little dramatic action, readers looking for books with a safari theme or for African animals will find adventure enough in the cozy cadences of these vignettes.-Marge Loch-Wouters, Menasha's Public Library, WI