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CHICKEN LITTLE

Name: CHICKEN LITTLE
Author: Sam Wedelich
ISBN: 978-1-338-35901-5

THE REAL AND TOTALLY TRUE TALE

by Sam Wedelich ; illustrated by Sam Wedelich ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 5, 2020

Adds little depth to the original but is enjoyable nonetheless.

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A chicken investigates whether or not the sky is falling.

The bespectacled fowl protagonist immediately yells out to readers that she “is NOT little!” via an ocher speech balloon. “ ‘Little’ implies young and small,” she goes on, asserting that “babies are easily scared and I’m not afraid of anything!” But when an unidentified projectile bonks her on the head, she panics, soon jumping to the conclusion that the sky is falling. Word spreads of her investigation (the sky itself trying to convince her otherwise), and soon it’s “utter hen-demonium.” Persuaded by the sky, the chicken calms down her comrades with an impassioned appeal to reason and sympathy (how optimistic), and she is soon clucked over, bandaged, and back to yelling that she’s “FINE!” Energetic, expressive digital illustrations look like loose pen-and-ink drawings. Little has white feathers and a red comb, and she wears cunning red boots; some of her compatriots (many of whom are brown or black) are similarly shod. Her histrionics will be familiar to children and people who know children, and her probing exchange with the anthropomorphized sky is inventive, but this is an otherwise straightforward retelling of the classic tale. The penultimate scene, in which the little chicken receives medical treatment for her wound, is lackluster and anticlimactic. The bluster and squawkings will be fun for an energetic read-aloud, though, the calm narration pairing comically with colorful dialogue.

Adds little depth to the original but is enjoyable nonetheless. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: May 5, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-338-35901-5

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Scholastic

Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
CHICKEN LITTLE AND THE VERY LONG RACE
by Sam Wedelich ; illustrated by Sam Wedelich

- BOOK REVIEW
CHICKEN LITTLE AND THE BIG BAD WOLF
by Sam Wedelich ; illustrated by Sam Wedelich

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LITTLE BLUE TRUCK AND RACER RED

From the Little Blue Truck series

by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 25, 2025

A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.

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In this latest in the series, Little Blue Truck, driven by pal Toad, is challenged to a countryside race by Racer Red, a sleek, low-slung vehicle.

Blue agrees, and the race is on. Although the two start off “hood to hood / and wheel to wheel,” they switch positions often as they speed their way over dusty country roads. Blue’s farm friends follow along to share in the excitement and shout out encouragement; adult readers will have fun voicing the various animal sounds. Short rhyming verses on each page and several strategic page turns add drama to the narrative, but soft, mottled effects in the otherwise colorful illustrations keep the competition from becoming too intense. Racer Red crosses the finish line first, but Blue is a gracious loser, happy to have worked hard. That’s a new concept for Racer Red, who’s laser-focused on victory but takes Blue’s words (“win or lose, it’s fun to try!”) to heart—a revelation that may lead to worthwhile storytime discussions. When Blue’s farm animal friends hop into the truck for the ride home, Racer Red tags along and learns a second lesson, one about speed. “Fast is fun, / and slow is too, / as long as you’re / with friends.”

A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: March 25, 2025

ISBN: 9780063387843

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK MAKES A FRIEND
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry

- BOOK REVIEW
TIME FOR SCHOOL, LITTLE BLUE TRUCK
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK'S VALENTINE
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)