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
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
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
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