ROSA FARM

Charlotte’s Web meets Lord of the Flies in this offering from newcomer Wu. The regular Rosa Farm rooster is unable to complete his regular job of crowing to the rising sun. So Gallileon, the adolescent rooster, is called in to do his father’s job. Gallileon takes his job very seriously, even staying up all night so that he will not oversleep. A cute idea, but there is simply too much going on here. Little chick sister Pepina’s pettiness leads to bickering, and their mother forces the unhappy siblings to play together. Barnyard politics lead the gossiping geese to kidnap Pepina and trick Gallileon with their knowledge of a convenient eclipse. Gallileon is forced to make an alliance with a cat and dog in order to save his sister. The plot muddies even further when the cat convinces one goose to plan a coup to overthrow the leader of the geese. Though the story has amusing moments and Phelan’s line drawings are charming, there are just too many complicated plotlines and characters for the target reading age. (Fiction. 7-9)