Three clever chickens outwit their abductors—and save themselves from certain death—in this pro-poultry tale. Barkus and Sly Fox are introduced in the opening; Lambert’s (Little Ones Do, 2001, etc.) soft-edged vignettes show the titular cousins as they lurk about the village at night then grab their loot from a local hen house (“ ‘I would like a plump roast chicken for my supper,’ said Barkus”). But Biddy, Bluff, and Tweed have chutzpah; since the thieves have put them in a shed overnight, they also have time to hatch a plan (“No one is going to serve us with cream sauce”). Searching for a way to escape the shed, Tweed stumbles upon a box of stolen cutlery. Among the forks and knives is a golden ladle. Lambert’s double-paged, full-bleed spread reveals the ruse: Biddy sits on a nest with the rounded orb of the ladle peeking out from beneath her tail feathers. “If you eat one of us she’ll be so upset she won’t lay,” Tweed tells her hungry captor, and he decides to let them be. The tightly woven narrative moves toward a satisfying conclusion as greed causes a rift between the cousins and eventually leads to freedom for the flock. McAllister’s take on a time-honored theme is vibrant and fresh; quickly paced, the narrative is just right for reading aloud. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: July 1, 2002
ISBN: 1-58234-764-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
What if the market was closed when you wanted to bake a pie? You could embark for Europe, learn Italian en route, and pick up some semolina wheat in Italy, an egg in France, kurundu bark for cinnamon in Sri Lanka, and an entire cow in England (butter) before coming home via Jamaica (sugar) and Vermont (apples). The expertly designed illustrations in which a dark-haired lass journeys by various means to these interesting places to get her groceries are lovely and lively, and the narrative, too, travels at a spritely pace. The journey is neither quite logical enough to be truly informative nor quite bizarre enough to be satisfyingly silly, while the rich, sweet recipe that's appended will take some adult assistance. Still, fun. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: May 2, 1994
ISBN: 0-679-83705-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1994
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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