Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Purim Chicken

Purim Chicken. Margery Cuyler. Illustrated by Puy Pinillos. 2017. 32 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: "Purim is coming," crowed Cock-a-Doodle-Doo. "Time to rehearse our Purim songs," mooed Moo. "And make groggers," bleated Bleat. "And eat hamantaschen," baaed Baa. "And wear costumes," neighed Neigh. "For our Purim play," quacked Quack.

Premise/plot: Cluck, the hen, is an audience member (presumably again) along with Honk, Hoot, Bleat. Not every animal on the farm gets to be IN the Purim play. Quack is always Esther, the heroine. Cluck isn't bitter--far from it. She practices and practices clucking LOUDER and LOUDER so that everyone knows how wicked and evil Haman really is. But when the day comes, the star of the show is missing. Cluck knows what she has to do--be brave and determined just like Queen Esther--to save her friend.

My thoughts: I didn't think I'd like this one very much when it began. It's very "the cow goes moo, the sheep goes baa, the horse goes neigh." But this story has some heart to it that isn't completely lost by the bad puns. (I really, really could have done without the puns. Like the cow shares "bad moos" instead of "bad news.") Cluck is a GREAT heroine. And I loved how brave she became and how she faced her fears and saved the day.

Text: 3.5 out of 5
Illustrations: 3.5 out of 5
Total: 7 out of 10

© 2017 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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