COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO!
by Cecily Matthews & illustrated by Lorette Broekstra
Hungry hens cluck and starving cows stamp when Basil the rooster gets laryngitis and little Leonard decides he’s too “peaky and puny” to do the big rooster’s job and cock-a-doodle-doo the farm awake. The simple, forceful text matches the bright background colors and bold brushstrokes, emphasizing Leonard’s shrinking confidence with a diminishing font and by depicting a fowl that becomes droopier page by page. Name-calling (“He’s just a shrimp … a pipsqueak,” say the cows) may press the text beyond the comfort zone of some parents and children. When the grouchy cows vigorously stamp their feet, causing little Leonard to fear he’ll be crushed, the wee rooster’s crow becomes fierce and authoritative, and all at once he becomes as cocky as he needs to be. With this simple tale of how a rooster finds his crow, Matthews and Broekstra vividly show how uncomfortable it is to lack confidence. (Picture book. 2-5)