ACCESS DIGITIZED EDITION
Guide/Reviews Database
PICTURE BOOKS
Thomas, Jan

The Chicken Who Couldn't

56 pp. | Simon/Beach Lane | October, 2020 | Trade ISBN 978-1-4169-9699-6 $17.99 | Ebook ISBN 978-1-4814-6662-2 $10.99
(2) K-3 Heading home after an unrewarded trip (no blue ribbon) to the fair, Chicken suddenly finds himself jostled out of Farmer's truck bed and onto the side of the road. Chicken exclaims to no one in particular that he simply can't walk home to the farm, but a series of animals attempt to help him get there. Bird suggests taking flight, but Frog's quick research showing that chickens can't actually fly brings Chicken back down to earth. With walking as his only option, Chicken sets out along the road--in the cartoony art, a brown and bumpy path against a lime-green background. A noise scares him into hiding in Mole's hole, where Turtle arrives to commiserate and provide Chicken with a new mantra: "I am a STRONG and POWERFUL and NICE-LOOKING chicken!" Emboldened by Turtle's encouragement, the chicken escapes the hole and then a close call with a hungry Fox. Full of giggle-inducing exclamations and well-timed page-turns, Thomas's comedy of errors unfolds entirely in dialogue. Bold-colored backgrounds help to signal moments of heightened alarm along Chicken's journey. Thomas's use of panels measures the delivery of each punch line, and her characters' boxy bodies and flailing limbs bring silliness to every encounter. Somewhere between snorts of laughter, readers might even catch a lesson in self-confidence--Chicken certainly does.
Reviewer: Grace McKinney | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2020

RELATED 

PICTURE BOOKS

Born Ready
by Patterson, Jodie
PICTURE BOOKS

The House of Grass and Sky
by Ray, Mary Lyn
PICTURE BOOKS

The Dog's Gardener
by Storms, Patricia
PICTURE BOOKS

And I Paint It
by Kephart, Beth
PICTURE BOOKS

Poem in My Pocket
by Tougas, Chris
More

Get connected. Join our global community of more than 200,000 librarians and educators.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

We are currently offering this content for free. Sign up now to activate your personal profile, where you can save articles for future viewing.

ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER?