Like popcorn chicken, this book’s got a nugget of protein at its center.
On the way home from a fair, after failing to win a single ribbon, Chicken’s cage is jolted out of the back of a pickup truck, leaving him to find his own way home to the farm. A comical cast of animals try to help. A bird suggests that he fly home; a frog, who consults a manual claiming that chickens can only fly short distances, is less helpful. When Chicken tries to hide in a hole, a bespectacled mole and enthusiastic turtle try to instill in him the confidence he needs to overcome his fears. By repeating “I am a STRONG and POWERFUL and NICE-LOOKING chicken,” Chicken manages to intimidate a hungry fox, make it back home to the friendly farmer (a beige-skinned figure with overalls and hair in a braid), and even win more ribbons at next year’s fair before the whole ordeal starts over again. The comically heavy-handed message of self-confidence is predictably executed, with Chicken serving as a chaotic antihero. Thomas’ trademark goofy illustrations arranged in comic-style panels hold a great deal of energy, and the Looney Tunes–style humor will get a lot of laughs from young audiences. (This book was reviewed digitally with 9-by-18-inch double-page spreads viewed at 18.5% of actual size.)
Like popcorn chicken, this book’s got a nugget of protein at its center. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4169-9699-6
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2020
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
Serve this superbly designed title to all who relish slightly scary stories.
Kids know vegetables can be scary, but rarely are edible roots out to get someone. In this whimsical mock-horror tale, carrots nearly frighten the whiskers off Jasper Rabbit, an interloper at Crackenhopper Field.
Jasper loves carrots, especially those “free for the taking.” He pulls some in the morning, yanks out a few in the afternoon, and comes again at night to rip out more. Reynolds builds delicious suspense with succinct language that allows understatements to be fully exploited in Brown’s hilarious illustrations. The cartoon pictures, executed in pencil and then digitally colored, are in various shades of gray and serve as a perfectly gloomy backdrop for the vegetables’ eerie orange on each page. “Jasper couldn’t get enough carrots … / … until they started following him.” The plot intensifies as Jasper not only begins to hear the veggies nearby, but also begins to see them everywhere. Initially, young readers will wonder if this is all a product of Jasper’s imagination. Was it a few snarling carrots or just some bathing items peeking out from behind the shower curtain? The ending truly satisfies both readers and the book’s characters alike. And a lesson on greed goes down like honey instead of a forkful of spinach.
Serve this superbly designed title to all who relish slightly scary stories. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 21, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4424-0297-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 1, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012
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