Fowl Play

How did the chicken wake up?  It had an alarm cluck. 

What do you call a chicken crossing the road?  Poultry in motion

Why did the chicken cross the road?  To bock traffic!

Why did the turkey cross the road?  To prove he wasn't chicken!

Those four questions and answers are only a few in a multitude of fowl hilarity. Chickens and their feathered friends have long been the object of comedy routines, jokes, and tall tales.  They've even made it into the world of polka with the famous chicken dance.  Be prepared to grin, giggle, and guffaw as you enjoy this trio of titles recently released.

In two previous books, Interrupting Chicken and Interrupting Chicken And The Elephant Of Surprise, author illustrator David Ezra Stein introduces and entertains readers with the actions and conversations between a lively little red chicken and her patient papa.  In the third title, Interrupting Chicken: Cookies For Breakfast (Candlewick Press, October 26, 2021), the delightful duo take readers once more into the world of the classic written word.  There is nothing like a craving for cookies to get your morning off to an exuberant start . . . for some.

It was bright and early for the little red chicken.

Papa is not ready to wake up on a Saturday morning until little red chicken mentions breakfast in bed.  Cookies are not what he has in mind.  There will be no cookies for breakfast, but Papa reading a book aloud is the next best thing.

Little red chicken snuggles in next to her father eager for him to begin reading nursery rhymes.  Not more than one is read before she interrupts with her own version of completing There Was An Old Woman.  There might be a mention of cookies. 

Again Papa says there will be no cookies for breakfast.  You won't believe what vitamin little red chicken says are in cookies!  This scenario is repeated two more times as the reading aloud resumes.  The charming youngster inserts cookies into nursery rhymes, a proverb, and her own brand of common sense.

Papa is getting a little stressed and asks for a break.  Our clever protagonist pens and draws her own RIME.  A loud sound puts a stop to the comfy morning cuddle between this father and his daughter.  Papa has a most delicious reply to the noise.  

When we read David Ezra Stein's first sentence, we get a hint of how the morning is going to be.  The contrast between the on-fire vigor of the child and her father's desire to keep sleeping are typical and comedic.  Between their laugh-out-loud funny conversations and the nursery rhymes, most reworded by the little red chicken, an engaging cadence is created.  (I counted the mention of cookies and cookie at least twenty-five times.)  Here is a passage.

"Chicken."

"Yes, Papa?"

"I told you, we can't have cookies so early."

"I heard the early bird gets the cookie."

"That's worm."

"Well, you can have a worm, but I'd rather have a cookie!"

Papa yawned.  "We'll have breakfast soon.

Let's just read a little longer."

"Okay!" said the little red chicken. 

Using

watercolor, water-soluble crayon, china markers, pen, opaque white ink, and tea

the artwork of David Ezra Stein asks us to jump into the story with as much liveliness as the little red chicken does onto her father's bed.  On the open and matching dust jacket and book case, her enthusiasm is on full display.  Their humorous conversation is already beginning on the front, right side.  To the left, on the back, with the bedroom wallpaper as a canvas, we read the words of the little red chicken.

I sure like cookies a lot!

The speech balloons on the front and back are varnished.

A bright spring green covers the opening and closing endpapers.  On the informal title page, David Ezra Stein starts his pictorial interpretation.  The little red chicken is carrying a kitchen chair somewhere.  She has dropped her toy stuffed elephant.  A double-page picture spans edge to edge for the formal title page.  It is a wonderful view of the interior of the chickens' kitchen.  Our eyes move from the refrigerator across an arched doorway into another room, and then to the stove with pots and pans hanging from a rack under a hood to a window with a table and chairs, and finally to cupboards on the far right.

On the left side prior to the first single-page picture and on the right side of the final single-page picture, David Ezra Stein has placed a page using the bedroom wallpaper, green with large yellow flowers with reddish orange centers.  Throughout the book, the images range in size from smaller visuals on a single page to illustrations crossing the gutter to full-page pictures and two-page pictures.

The two-page pictures are the open book Papa is reading to little red chicken.  Included on these pages are her appearances when she interrupts and adds her own dialogue between the nursery rhyme characters.  The limited color palette of the nursery rhyme pages contrasts with excellence to the full-color illustrations of the little red chicken, her papa and their home.  The facial expressions on Papa, the little red chicken, and the nursery rhyme characters are side-splitting.

One of my many favorite illustrations is a picture which crosses the gutter.  On the left, we see Papa in bed with his little red chicken.  She is holding an open book and a pencil.  Her toy stuffed elephant is nestled with Papa on his right side.  The box of cookies is on the left side of the little red hen.  A light glows near her on a bedside table.  The bed crosses the gutter.  Taped on the foot of the bed, we are shown affectionate drawings by the little red chicken for her papa.  Her art materials are scattered on the floor near an ottoman where she was working.  

This third book, Interrupting Chicken: Cookies For Breakfast written and illustrated by David Ezra Stein, is as enchanting and funny as the previous two titles.  You can expect to hear a chorus of "read it again" every time you finish reading this either one-on-one or to a group of listeners.  I highly recommend this title for your personal and professional collections.

To discover more about David Ezra Stein and his other work, please visit his website by following the link attached to his name.  David Ezra Stein has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  David Ezra Stein is interviewed at Judy Newman at Scholastic.  At the publisher's website, you can access and download a nine-page series activity kit.  At Penguin Random House, you can view many happy interior images.

David Ezra Stein discusses Interrupting Chicken: Cookies for Breakfast from Candlewick Press on Vimeo

According to Merriam-Webster, there are three major definitions for the word magic.  They involve a special power welded by special people, tricks, and influence or skill.  The word impossible is tied to two of these definitions.  What is not mentioned in any of these meanings is the word chicken.  Perhaps the people at Merriam-Webster need to have a chat with two creative talents, author Adam Rubin and illustrator Adam Rex.  This duo's new collaboration, Gladys The Magic Chicken (Putnam G. P. Putnam's Sons, October 26, 2021) gives a new interpretation to that word, magic.  You'll be laughing before you've even finished the first page.

THIS ALL HAPPENED

a long, long, long. long, looong time ago.

Three thousand years before your grandma's

grandma's grandma was born.

In these long ago times there lived a chicken, a dancing chicken.  Gladys, the dancing chicken, was a follower.  Each day she went to the pasture with the sheep, a dog, and a shepherd.  One day, for the first time in his short life, this shepherd saw his reflection in a puddle.  He was stunned.

When Gladys comforted the boy, he wished to be beautiful.  Years passed and that boy became a strong, handsome man.  When a traveling peddler came to town, that man saw himself in a mirror.  (He had never seen a mirror.)  Again, he was stunned.  He kissed Gladys and declared her to be 

"A MAGIC, WISH-GRANTING CHICKEN." (At this point, I am laughing out loud.)

The wily peddler acquired Gladys by giving the shepherd that mirror.  Gladys went from place to place with that businessman who was offering her for sale.  She did not sell and that man made a wish.  Poof! No more Gladys.

Gladys was shocked as she moved from a cooking pot to the arms of a heroic swordsman.  From there she became a gift and the object of a hard-to-forget song.  Before this chicken, said to be magical, could really get settled at a royal palace, she found herself on the high seas with a band of pirates.  What?!

No sooner than one could think avast me hearties, Gladys landed on a deserted beach which was not really deserted because this was Gladys, after all.  A fancy, footwork frolic was observed and a wild ride caused Gladys to yield yet another of her eggs.  That brought Gladys to the best conclusion for a dancing chicken who might or might not have had special powers.  Magical, indeed.

Some of the best kinds of stories are circle stories.  Adam Rubin has written this one masterfully.  The setting he fashions, Ancient Times, allows him to play with language and historical facts.  His named cast of characters describes their occupations and sometimes their characteristics like the

Long-Bearded Bandit and the

Learned Princess.

His blend of narrative, dialogue, and authorial asides is marvelous, just like Gladys.  You will be swept away by his word choices brimming with action.  Here is a passage.

CRASH!

BANG!

BOOM!

The Learned Princess shrieked as a Fearsome Pirate swung through the window, flipped through 

the air, and landed on the floor with a sword clenched in her teeth.  Gladys let an egg go ploop.

"YOU'RE COMING WITH ME." threatened the Fearsome Pirate.

"I'M HERE TO KIDNAP YOU FOR RANSOM!"

"HOORAY!" squealed the Learned Princess.

HOORAY? asked the Fearsome Pirate.  . . .

You will be hard-pressed to look at the open and matching dust jacket and book case without bursting into giggles.  Gladys, in all her dancing glory, is looking a tad uncomfortable at the accolades she is receiving and at being placed on a pedestal.  Her eyes here and throughout the book convey more than words ever could.  Gladys, the flower at her feet, and the title text are varnished.

To the left of the spine, on the back, a continuation of the Ancient Times brushed golden tones acts as a canvas.  Here is a very, very, very old stone portrait of a chicken with the face of a wise man or deity.  It is placed in the upper, left-hand corner like it is holding up a roof at the top of a pillar.

There are four horizontal panels separated by black lines on the opening and closing endpapers.  In these panels Gladys is featured, symbolically, in her travels.  The drawing is precise, almost like it has been cut and stenciled.  In the opening endpapers it is black on a rich deep pink.  On the closing endpapers, the elements are repeated on metallic dark gold.  These pink and gold colors are used again in a beautiful design decision.

The title page is done in hues of pink, purple, blue and gold.  It showcases an old city with lightning coming from the cloud above it.  Gladys sits in that cloud amid the title text.

Drawn digitally, these illustrations by Adam Rex are guaranteed to have readers pausing at every page turn beginning with the map opposite the dedication and publication information page.  The map is titled

THE WORLD OF

ANCIENT 

TIMES

WITH CHICKEN

SNACKS BY REGION.

The pictures throughout are replete with details and bold, bright colors. 

Single-page images blend to the next one.  Smaller illustrations grouped two to a page accentuate pacing.  Double-page pictures are dramatic.  When the ancient language is spoken it is placed in narrow scrolls with a different font.  White space, dark space, and perspective are magic in the skilled hands of Adam Rex.

One of my many favorite pictures is a single-page illustration.  It is a dark scene in hues of blue.  We are in the dungeon of the palace of the Purple Pooh-bah.  There is stonework, stairs, and archways leading into seemingly endless hallways.  On the right side a heavy grate is placed in the floor.  From the grate stretch two narrow scrolls.  They read:

CURSE YOU, MAGIC CHICKEN!

cried the Long-Bearded

Bandit.

THIS IS NOT WHAT I MEANT!

Prepare to laugh yourself silly reading Gladys The Magic Chicken written by Adam Rubin with illustrations by Adam Rex.  The combination of text and artwork makes this a classic tale to be told again and again.  You might find yourself humming a tune and singing the words ending with

ABRA-COCK-A-DOODLE-DEE-DOO!

Make sure you have a copy on your personal and professional bookshelves.

By following the link attached to Adam Rubin's and Adam Rex's names, you can access their respective websites to learn more about them and their other work.  Adam Rubin has an account on Twitter.  He also has a more adult website here.  Adam Rex has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  At the publisher's website you can view some interior images.  This inventive duo are interviewed about this book at School Library Journal, A Fuse #8 Production, by Betsy Bird.

Chicken Literacy from Adam R on Vimeo.

When the temperature drops thirty degrees in twelve hours with wind chills in the teens, it is cold outside.  No matter how much winter wear you don, the bitter breeze finds a way to give you the shivers.  As you walk from one point to the other, sometimes in place and other times as if a giant hand is pushing you, you wonder if you will ever be warm again.  In Cold Turkey (Little, Brown and Company, November 23, 2021) written by Corey Rosen Schwartz and Kirsti Call with illustrations by Chad Otis, this bird knows that frigid temperatures equals loads of clothes.  Will this bird survive wandering in his neighborhood?

Turkey woke up c-c-cold.

He wheezed, "It's ten degrees!

I need to b-b-bundle up

before I f-f-freeze!"

Turkey first met Sheep.  She was quivering from the effects of the storm.  Turkey gave her his hat.  Turkey was not quite as warm when he met Chick.  Her feathers and nest of hay were not helping her.  Perhaps Turkey's wing warmers would help her.

No longer standing, Horse could barely make a sound.  Cow could not even crouch to combat the wild wind.  It was a miracle Pig was not purple from the wild weather.  At each stop, Turkey relinquished an article of clothing.

Turkey was no longer bundled.  Turkey was shaking as the blizzard blasted his bare body.  He could hardly wait to get home.  

Unbeknownst to Turkey, his barnyard friends had an unexpected state in store for him.  Each one and Turkey, too, had new descriptive names.  Turkey went from warm-hearted on the inside and from cold to _____ on the outside.

Authors Corey Rosen Schwartz and Kirsti Call have a knack through inventive wordplay for spinning narratives with a catchy cadence.  Their rhyming couplets for each animal followed by a two-word alliterative descriptor bring smiles to listeners.  These are an open invitation to participate in the story.  As the tale unfolds, readers see the results of a generous spirit and the warmth friendship brings.  Here is a passage.

Cow was qu-qu-quivering.

"I can't help but complain.

This wind is a cow-tastrophy!

It's udderly insane."

QUIVERING

COW

The crisp white background for the front and back of the open and matching dust jacket and book case with scattered snowflakes is certain to induce chills.  Even covered in clothing, Turkey is one cold bird as evidenced by the shiver marks and blowing leaves and weeds.  Notice how those weeds extend over the spine.  

To the left, on the back, Turkey and his friends are shown in a circular image.  Their cold faces all point to him in the center.  Each one of them is labeled with their alliterative names, except for Cold Turkey.

On the opening endpapers artist Chad Otis gives readers a bird's eye view of the barnyard blanketed in snow.  A dotted line indicates the path Turkey takes from friend to friend.  This view offers a hint at the conclusion.  Night has fallen on the scene on the closing endpapers.  There are still a few flakes of snow falling but it is otherwise calm.  The dotted line has been replaced with prints in the snow.  A glow on the far right reveals the toasty conclusion.

These images rendered

in pencil, scanned textures, and digital paint

convey a realistic sense of time and place.  You'll be reaching for your favorite coat, hat, and mittens before you leave with Turkey to go outside.  Evidence of the wind and snow has filtered into Turkey's home.  Brrrr . . .

As Turkey moves from animal to animal, the layering of snow on objects combined with gusts of wind, drifting flakes, and blowing leaves and twigs is highly convincing.  White is used superbly as an element contrasting with the colors of the animals, Turkey and his clothing.  Chad Otis has us initially standing back to watch the exchange between Turkey and the other five animals, but when Turkey gives away an article of clothing and the animal is given their two-word name, we are brought close to the location.  Readers will enjoy the added details and facial expression on the characters.

One of my many favorite images of all these two-page pictures is for the words

HUDDLING HORSE.

On the left side Horse's face and upper portion of his body is highlighted.  Horse is extremely cold, but now his nose is wrapped in Turkey's scarf.  Horse is holding it in place with his two foot hooves.  On the right side of the picture, Turkey is walking away, getting colder and colder.  He is wearing only two more pieces of clothing.  Head bent, he plods through the deepening snow.  To the left of him, a fence is coated in snow.  In the distance, on the right, we can see the outline of the farmhouse.

Readers will be tapping their toes and clapping their hands in time to the wondrous words penned by Corey Rosen Schwartz and Kirsti Call and in response to the enhancing illustrations by Chad Otis when they hear or read Cold Turkey.  This book would make a fantastic reader's theater.  You'll want to add a copy to both your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about Corey Rosen Schwartz, Kirsti Call, and Chad Otis and their other work, please follow the link attached to their names to access their websites.  Corey Rosen Schwartz has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  Kirsti Call has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  Chad Otis has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  At the publisher's website, you can download an activity sheet.

Better Together #3

There comes a time when a single dramatic event causes us to assess how we will respond in certain situations.  There is usually an initial reaction.  It happens almost instinctively, but it is not always the right one.  Upon reflection, we realize we must improve how we think and act.  This makes the connections between family, friends, colleagues, and even strangers stronger.

Less than one year ago, we met an abundantly positive petite personality in an uplifting take on a classic tale.  Chicken Little The Real And Totally True Tale (Scholastic Press, May 5, 2020) written and illustrated by Sam Wedelich through wit allowed us to see the wisdom in collecting information before making a decision.  This fact-loving fowl is back in Chicken Little and The Big Bad Wolf (Scholastic Press, March 2, 2021) written and illustrated by Sam Wedelich. How big and how bad is this legendary wolf?

I am so

NOT

scared

of any

wolf! 

As Chicken Little boldly proclaims her lack of fear repeatedly, she is oblivious to the approaching figure.  There is a colossal collision.  When a dismayed voice asks if Chicken Little is alright, she looks up, screams, and skedaddles without hesitation.

As she tries to process what she has seen, there is only one logical choice.  It is the Big Bad Wolf!  An older chicken raises the alarm.  Chicken Little tries to run after her, but she is, after all, little.

Back in the barnyard, the chickens can't agree on a plan, but ultimately select an unwise alternative.  Fortunately for the flock, Chicken Little arrives with her voice of reason.  She gathers clues.  These don't satisfy her.

Hesitantly, she approaches the BBW.  The ensuing conversation has the residents of the coop rolling their respective eyes in disbelief.  And yet . . . Chicken Little speaks truths one cannot ignore.  Let's eat!

Each sentence Chicken Little utters in the beginning sets readers up for the BIG crashing comedic reveal.  This is a gift author Sam Wedelich gives to us.  The humor continues as Chicken Little ponders this unexpected situation.  Readers will delight in the word play, the use of re-worded iconic phrases, the fear factor trigger, and phrases with double meanings.  Told in dialogue, first person and other characters, and a bit of narrative, Chicken Little at the end brings us back to her first words.  Here is a passage.

WOLF?! YOU

CAN'T TRUST A WOLF!

HE'S PULLING THE FEATHERS

OVER YOUR EYES!

YEAH!

HE'S THE

BIG 

BAD

WOLF!

Hmm . . .

I see what

you mean.

In looking at the front and back of the book case, we immediately notice hilarity is a huge part of this story.  Look at the shadow of the wolf on the front.  It is a clear contrast to the words Chicken Little is saying.  On the back are four questions begging to be answered.  The first one has multiple-choice replies.  Chicken Little, wing on her hip, warns readers to not check the third box.  This is an irresistible invitation to start reading the story.  There is a little bit of text about Sam Wedelich, similar to what you might read on the back flap of a dust jacket.  Chicken Little on the front and back and the title text are varnished.

On the opening and closing endpapers is a pattern in two shades of red, pale and bright.  These are the identical hues shown on the book case.  Here Chicken Little is engaged in a variety of activities.  Cameras and photographs of The Big Bad Wolf are a part of the design.

On the title page, wings spread open to her sides, Chicken Little wearing her signature tiny red boots and large circular red glasses starts the story.  These illustrations on cream, matte-finished paper are rendered digitally with the type hand lettered by Sam Wedelich.  Dialogue appears in speech balloons, differently colored depending on the speaker.

Each portion of these images is defined by the heavy black lines around them.  Chicken Little is portrayed in a variety of sizes in partial-page pictures, full-page pictures or double-page pictures. Motion and emotion are conveyed with excellence, each assisted by perspective.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is a single-page visual.  It features four of the coop chickens.  They are all wearing old-style flying helmets.  Three have on goggles.  These three are carrying suitcases. They are looking straight at readers.  This picture is after they have decided 

to fly the coop.

This bird is certainly the word.  Chicken Little and The Big Bad Wolf written and illustrated by Sam Wedelich allows us to examine ourselves in light of the situation in which Chicken Little and the coop characters find themselves.  Everyone wants to belong, accepted as they are and not as they are perceived.  I highly recommend this title for both your professional and personal collections.

To learn more about Sam Wedelich and her other work, please follow the link attached to her name to access her website.  Sam Wedelich has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  You can see loads of Sam Wedelich's art on her Instagram account.

In her poem, The Summer Day, Mary Oliver closes with a question:

Tell me, what is it you plan to do

with your one wild and precious life?

Assuredly the responses to her question will vary with each reader, but it is a hope many will share identical replies.  After reading A New Day (Dial Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, March 2, 2021) written by Brad Meltzer with illustrations by Dan Santat, this is guaranteed.  This story centers on how a grateful heart extended with kindness can be an agent for significant change.

Sunday quit.

Just like that.

She said she was tired of being a day.

Do you know how much

work it takes to give the

world a beautiful,

free day . . .

As Sunday speaks, the other days, understandably shocked, listen to her list the other things she wants to do.  Monday, ever practical, suggests they find a new day.  Posters are posted from one end of the earth to the other end.  The six remaining days, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday start interviews the next day.  It's safe to say, the witty commentary begins, also.

First up is FunDay followed by BunDay (hair).  Canines make an appearance, suggesting all the right reasons for DogDay.  Not to be excluded a group of cats offer conversation on the sidelines suggesting Caturday.  After getting some promising proposals, Friday and Saturday want more similar ideas.  And this is when the real trouble (comedy) commences.  The cats are still on the scene, ever hopeful.

The rivalry heightens.  Clever contenders disguise themselves and solicit partners, claiming teamwork.  There were crazy days like UnicornsWithHornsForHornsDay and ridiculous days like GelatinSuitsDay.  Of course, the dogs are vigilant making a third showing which has the cats in a furry.  When it seems as though the word sensible has vanished from everyone's vocabulary, Monday asks a question.

A small, quiet voice says two simple words.

I do.

As Monday continues the chat, she, the other days and readers are astonished by the child's other words.  The most surprised is Sunday.  All Sunday needs, all anyone needs, is exactly what this child is offering.  It is indeed A New Day.

Author Brad Meltzer through dialogue, narrative, and details supplies us with page-turning action.  We promptly step into this story and its fun.  We embrace that dialogue, text, and details creating the outlandish exaggerations found in the new day presentations.  But let's be clear, Sunday's claims are sincere and true.  When we compare her desires with those of the new day possibilities, amid our laughter, we feel Monday's frustrations.  This is why our souls soar along with Sunday's and the other six days at the end.  Brad Meltzer must have had loads of fun writing this story.  Here is a passage.

Oh, c'mon!

Those're the

same dogs as

before---

but with

mustaches!

This isn't fair.

When do we get to

pitch Caturday?

The cats were right about it being unfair.

But as word began to spread that teamwork was a good thing . . .  

The remarkable, signature artwork of Dan Santat is boldly presented on the matching and open dust jacket and book case.  On the front, right, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday each have defining characteristics and distinguishing colors.  In an ingenious design, the title text is placed in an outline of a possible new day personality.

On the back, left, is the WANTED A NEW DAY poster.  The description of the qualities needed are lengthy and explicit.  They describe what many experience on a Sunday.  You know something, the opposite of what is expected to happen, is in the offing when you read the final line on the poster.

SERIOUS INQUIRIES ONLY

On the opening and closing endpapers, Dan Santat introduces and finishes his pictorial interpretation of this story.  On the first set, the six perplexed days, looking worried and disgusted, stand on an enlarged calendar within some of the square lines.  On the second set, the six days, now overjoyed, have left the audition table.  They are hugging Sunday, have open arms, and all are smiling.

On a dramatic two-page picture for the title page are seven vertical panels.  Each one contains one of the days except for the first one.  There is a smudge where Sunday should be.  These illustrations prepared

with watercolor, color pencil, crayon, and digitally rendered in Adobe Photoshop

are highly animated.  Facial expressions, body postures and clothing are captivating.  Background colors showcase dialogue displayed in speech bubbles.  

Sometimes a single page will focus on one thing, bringing us close to that item or person. Other times a series of horizontal or vertical panels will present the new days.  At times we are looking at the six-day audition panel, other times we are behind them or even looking down on the action.  Every time you read this book; you'll notice a different brilliant detail.  You'll burst out laughing at the text and image following the dedication and publication page at the end.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is for DogDay.  It is a two-page image.  All the days are merrily enjoying the dogs and puppies.  It's a day where everyone will get a dog or a puppy.  There are dogs present in all kinds of shapes and sizes.  Some of the days have left their chairs to get closer to the dogs and puppies.  One puppy has joined Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday at the table.  Off to the right side, one dog is talking with a disgruntled cluster of cats. 

Brightly hued and lively images paired with light-hearted, inventive language beckon readers into the book, A New Day written by Brad Meltzer with illustrations by Dan Santat.  You'll carry this funny, lovable story in your heart, remembering how the right two words can be all we need.  I know you'll want a copy of this title for both your collections, personal and professional.

To learn more about Brad Meltzer and Dan Santat and their other work, access their websites by following the link attached to their names.  Brad Meltzer has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  Dan Santat has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. At the publisher's website you can view the opening endpapers.  Here is a link to a clip on Good Morning America with Brad Meltzer speaking about this book. 

The two other blog posts in the Better Together series are here and here.

Comedy Times Two

For those who have read a book aloud to one or more listeners and the response is laughter, there is truly little, if anything, better in life.  Once the laughter starts, it is contagious, spreading from person to person, until the entire room is enveloped in merriment.  Even after the story is complete, and each participant leaves, the shared happiness remains, tucked away to be remembered when it is needed the most.

At times, a single word can carry humor to fun-filled heights.  In Chick Chat (North|South, January 19, 2021) written and illustrated by Janie Bynum, a baby cannot stop talking during any waking moment of their day.  As you might expect, this talking is done through a single sound, repeated profusely. 

Baby Chick has a lot to say.

She peeps so much at the breakfast table; an older sister wishes the chit-chat would stop.  She's already exhausted from hearing the constant noise.  Mama and Papa are much too busy with their own tasks to listen.

Pulling a trusty red wagon loaded with prize possessions, Baby Chick tries one more time to lure Sister into a discussion.  Too busy reading, she tells Baby Chick to play.  The little chicken finds a likely spot to stop and starts digging with her trowel.  Suddenly,

Thunk!

Baby Chick finds an egg.  It's big.  It's round.  And it is silent.  Unable to leave the egg all by itself, it's loaded into the trusty red wagon.  Concerned, a sibling and parents convince and ask Baby Chick to return the egg.  Back at the hole in the dirt, she provides the egg with all the comforts of friendship, safety, warmth and conversation.

She falls asleep there and is taken home.  As the sun rises, the ever-talkative bundle of fluff hurries to the egg.  After a startling discover, a pleasant surprise awaits the gregarious Baby Chick.

With limited sentences, descriptive and declarative, author Janie Bynum introduces readers to a lovable character who resides in an equally affectionate family.  A pleasing blend of narrative and conversation add to the comedy.  Punctuation after the multitude of peeps furnishes readers with emphasis and meaning.  Here is a passage.

Peep.  Peep.  Peep?

"Not now.  I'm working,"

crowed Papa.  "Talk to Sister."

eRR-

eRR-

eRRRRR

On the open book case, a robin's egg blue is the canvas.  On either side of the spine the image shows Baby Chick pulling her trusty red wagon loaded with her treasures.  She pulls it with one wing.  In the other wing she holds her trowel.  On top of the watering can is a tiny beetle.  The line drawings here, and throughout the book, are detailed and colorful.  On the back, the left of the open book case, is text one might find on the front flap of a dust jacket.

A grass green hue covers the opening and closing endpapers.  On the first set are the tracks of Baby Chick.  On the second set another set of tracks accompany those of Baby Chick, referencing her newly hatched friend.

On the title page, the title text is placed within a speech balloon.  Beneath this, Baby Chick is leaning into a hole saying---

Peep?

The sizes of the illustrations vary from marvelous two-page pictures to full-page pictures or several visuals on a single page.  The alternating sizes contribute favorably to the wondrous pacing.  Readers will be charmed by all the tiny appropriate elements in each illustration.  Baby Chick is eating a bowl of worms for breakfast.  Her Mama wears an apron and Sister is wearing a tied scarf.  Later, Mom gathers beetles in a basket.  Sister is reading a book titled A Coop of One's Own.  

Careful readers will see that Baby Chick never wanders far from the coop.  You can see the coop from where Sister is reading against a tree.  The egg is found near the tree with Sister seen reading in the distance.  Readers will enjoy seeing how Baby Chick keeps the egg safe, warm, and company.

One of my many favorite illustrations, a full-page picture, is after the sun has set.  Sister finds Baby Chick with the egg.  The egg is wrapped in a blanket.  Baby Chick, covered with another blanket, is on top of the egg.  She is holding her purple stuffed toy elephant.  She is down in the hole with a grassy slope behind her.  There are two sheep there and Sister.  The other items Baby Chick has with her in the hole are enchanting.

Get ready for readers to peep, peep, and peep some more when listening to or after reading Chick Chat written and illustrated by Janie Bynum.  Cheerful is the word to use depicting this tale of friendship found.  All the peeps welcome participation by readers and listeners.  If you are looking for laughter, this book is for you, either on your personal or professional bookshelves.

To learn more about Janie Bynum and her other work, please follow the link attached to her name to access her website.  The book, Chick Chat, has its own site here.  There are interior illustrations found at the publisher's website and at Simon & Schuster.  The publisher has an interview with the creator here.  Jamie Bynum has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  The blog tour for this title starts at Good Reads with Ronna with links to the other stops.

CHICK CHAT the Picture Book (trailer) from Janie Bynum on Vimeo.

The patience of parents is tested more than once on road trips with children.  After endless games of I Spy, There's A Flag, 50-State License Plates, Bingo scavenger hunts, and boredom from coloring and puzzles sets in, the bickering begins.  Siblings who tolerate each other outside a car tend to become bitter rivals when confined to the back seat inside a car.  Squish Squash Squished (Nancy Paulsen Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, February 16, 2021) written by Rebecca Kraft Rector with illustrations by Dana Wulfekotte is hilarity multiplied.  Fantastic wordplay paired with whimsical images of animals and humans living together in a small community fashions a textured tale of you never know how good it is until it isn't.

"Hurry-scurry, kids," called Mom.

"Let's jiggety-jog into town in our

gracious-spacious automobile."

As soon as the sister and brother get inside the car, the pushing and shoving commence.  One leans into the other and vice versa.  Mom has a solution.  She invites a father, Peter Jeeter, and son, pigs, to join them. Brother and sister yell in unison about the more crowded backseat.

Mom replies with the same phrase,

"Too tight for two?

I know what to do."

She welcomes Dolly Waddle and two ducklings to join the passengers in their automobile.  Now the siblings are more squished and squashed.  

As the yelling from Max and Molly gets louder, Mom makes another stop.  Four more creatures enter the car.  There is more shouting, oinking, quacking and woofing.  Mom slows her automobile near the largest of animal friends they've yet to meet.  Their numbers are greater than any of the other guests.  Do Max and Molly keep yelling?  What do they do next?  

A school, pond, and the market supply answers.  Max and Molly have discovered a valuable truth about the definition of squish and squash.  Their perspective on the family car might have changed.

Rhyming, alliteration and repetition of key phrases are a wonderful, winning combination penned by author Rebecca Kraft Rector in this rollicking tale of complaints versus cleverness.  The use of dialogue and text is fabulous as is the rhythm they create.  With each new encounter of an animal family on the road, the laughter factor grows.  Here is a passage.

Two ducklings 

flit-feathered onto Molly's head,

quack-quacking,

and one piglet on Max's lap

oink-oinked right in his ear.

"Mom!" Max and Molly yelled.

"We're squished and squashed!"

You can't help but laugh out loud when you look at the matching dust jacket and book case.  The animal friends are having the ride of their collective lives.  Mom is calm and cool as the proverbial cucumber.  Max and Molly are not happy.  They look right at us in discomfort and frustration.  The facial expressions on the characters here by artist Dana Wulfekotte are priceless.  The hill you see going up on the right, front of the jacket and cover, continues on the other side of the spine.  Just left of the spine is a large tree, fully leafed.  Another darker hill with a barn at its top, extends from the middle of the first hill to the far-left side.  A pigeon wearing a hat stands on the ISBN with its suitcase.  Perhaps, it is a homing (carrier) pigeon.

On the opening and closing matching endpapers, done in two tones of teal with black outlines, we see each of the four animal families displaying a variety of activities and positions.  You can't look at these without smiling or giggling.  The double-page picture for the verso and title pages features a low rolling hill with the road along the bottom.  A giraffe in jogging gear is placed on the left.  On the right, Inch Pinch and her three backpack-wearing puppies are riding a bicycle built for four.  

In illustrations, 

rendered in pencil and then digitally colored, 

and shifting in size from double-page images to full-page pictures or single, double, or triple fine-lined-framed geometric shapes on a single page, each one generates superb pacing.  Readers will find more playfulness in the attire worn by the passengers and the objects they carry.  These elements seem to indicate the ultimate goal of each family as shown at the end of the story.  One of the funnier scenes is for Scooter Mooter and his calves.  The calves are wearing pink tutus.  One is also wearing glasses and reading a book.  The gathering of animals and people of mixed races and ages at the market is perfect.

One of my many favorite illustrations is one of three on a single page.  It is a rectangle-shaped picture.  It is a close-up of the faces of Molly and Max, open-mouthed and yelling.  Max has a missing tooth.  Dolly Waddle is to the left of Molly.  Her two ducklings are quacking on top of Molly's head.  The upper portion of their bodies break the frame.  To the right is Max with the piglet on his right.  At this moment, the piglet has paused its oinking and appears to be peeking around the corner of the border.

This book, Squish Squash Squished written by Rebecca Kraft Rector with illustrations by Dana Wulfekotte, is pure delight.  The cadence of the words and the comical visuals will have readers laughing and giggling long after the last word is read.  There will be requests of read it again.  I know you'll want a copy for your professional and personal collections.

To learn more about Rebecca Kraft Rector and Dana Wulfekotte, and their other work, please follow the link attached to their names to access their websites.  Rebecca Kraft Rector has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  Dana Wulfekotte has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  At the publisher's website you can view the endpapers.  There are posts about this book and interviews at Kid Lit Village and Kathleen Temean's Writing and Illustrating.