One Little Chicken


Technically, there are quite a few more than the one chicken in this book... 

THREE PROS
*As someone you would have to pay to dance, I appreciate the encouragement author David Elliott gives the next generation to get over this taboo   
*Ethan Long's fowl are anything but foul to look at
*Bonus points for the innovative musical instrument creation they include near the end

THREE CONS 
*I don't care how G-rated the drawing is -- you can NOT mention the concept of bumping and grinding in a children's book 
*To a lesser extent, I'm not sure how necessary it was to describe the Latin music as "hot" 
*The rhyming is pretty good throughout, although the text on the 'five' page is a little clunky 

ONE DAD'S OPINION
A huge part of me wanted to slap a Destroy on One Little Chicken for that egregious bump n' grind offense.  I couldn't do it, though.  It's actually a pretty good counting book if you are able to ignore that one error in judgment.  Even calling it a Donate seems harsh for a solitary goof-up.  So I am giving it a Borrow...and I'm giving anyone who reads it some advice:  tread carefully on the page with seven chickens (as you make up pretty much anything else but what is written on the page).
 

Buy / BORROW / Donate / Destroy




1 comment:

Jeff Rivera said...

A great review , masterguy.
I think using these chicken is a good way to teach children to count. They may even try to do the dances on their own and enjoy the book.

As a children's book author I would have skipped this line,
"hula till it hurts.... bump and grind....Oh my Gosh!....dance to a beat that's hot and Latin"
I don't think It's appropriate for children but It's actually a nice book.

Jeff Rivera
Author of "MOMMY I THINK I FLUSHED MY BROTHER DOWN THE TOILET"
http://amzn.to/RUltKc