New readers have a terrific new series to laugh over.
Chickens Dirt, Sugar, Poppy and Sweetie are back!
These chickens profess to solve all sorts of mysteries, but soon it becomes evident that they are more likely just to stir up trouble. Luckily, retired search-and-rescue pooch J.J. Tully is keeping an eye on all things chicken. In this outing, a blue jay (or weird blue chicken, if you are on the Chicken Squad) reads the squad’s flier and comes for help. Someone has taken the jay’s house, and the little bird wants it back. After a hilarious cross-examination, Dirt and Sugar realize that brother Poppy is the thief. But why—and how—did little Poppy move the wooden house? The plot thickens when a squirrel shows up, complaining of stolen acorns and requesting a hammer. These mysteries sort themselves out in a typically comic manner, with Sweetie, the littlest chicken, relegated to an old shoe, playing a critical role. Cornell’s frequent black-and-white art turns up the volume on the humor and helps new chapter-book readers keep up with the plot. Tully makes a brief appearance at the beginning and end, taking all the credit. Everyone learns a lesson: The blue jay learns the difference between inches and feet, the squad learns to listen to Sweetie, and the squirrel learns to eat fruit.
New readers have a terrific new series to laugh over. (Mystery. 6-9)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4424-9679-8
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2014
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look...
Winning actually isn’t everything, as jazz-happy Rooster learns when he goes up against the legendary likes of Mules Davis and Ella Finchgerald at the barnyard talent show.
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look good—particularly after his “ ‘Hen from Ipanema’ [makes] / the barnyard chickies swoon.”—but in the end the competition is just too stiff. No matter: A compliment from cool Mules and the conviction that he still has the world’s best band soon puts the strut back in his stride. Alexander’s versifying isn’t always in tune (“So, he went to see his cousin, / a pianist of great fame…”), and despite his moniker Rooster plays an electric bass in Bower’s canted country scenes. Children are unlikely to get most of the jokes liberally sprinkled through the text, of course, so the adults sharing it with them should be ready to consult the backmatter, which consists of closing notes on jazz’s instruments, history and best-known musicians.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-58536-688-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
A lesson that never grows old, enacted with verve by two favorite friends
Gerald the elephant learns a truth familiar to every preschooler—heck, every human: “Waiting is not easy!”
When Piggie cartwheels up to Gerald announcing that she has a surprise for him, Gerald is less than pleased to learn that the “surprise is a surprise.” Gerald pumps Piggie for information (it’s big, it’s pretty, and they can share it), but Piggie holds fast on this basic principle: Gerald will have to wait. Gerald lets out an almighty “GROAN!” Variations on this basic exchange occur throughout the day; Gerald pleads, Piggie insists they must wait; Gerald groans. As the day turns to twilight (signaled by the backgrounds that darken from mauve to gray to charcoal), Gerald gets grumpy. “WE HAVE WASTED THE WHOLE DAY!…And for WHAT!?” Piggie then gestures up to the Milky Way, which an awed Gerald acknowledges “was worth the wait.” Willems relies even more than usual on the slightest of changes in posture, layout and typography, as two waiting figures can’t help but be pretty static. At one point, Piggie assumes the lotus position, infuriating Gerald. Most amusingly, Gerald’s elephantine groans assume weighty physicality in spread-filling speech bubbles that knock Piggie to the ground. And the spectacular, photo-collaged images of the Milky Way that dwarf the two friends makes it clear that it was indeed worth the wait.
A lesson that never grows old, enacted with verve by two favorite friends . (Early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4231-9957-1
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2014
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