Kate DiCamillo is a well known name in children's literature, but I just discovered this picture book of hers while browsing around in the library. Prior to this, I had mistakenly believed that she only wrote chapter books. It is a tale about a chicken named Louise who longs for adventure. She ends up meeting pirates while sailing on the open seas, having a job as a tightrope walker in the circus where she narrowly escapes a hungry lion, and frees a whole crew of captured chickens (which includes her). Louise eventually returns home to the farm where she lives to tell her fellow chickens about all that she saw and did. As a person who likes to travel and go on adventures myself, this book kept me engaged from beginning to end. I have a feeling the second grade students of mine will enjoy Louise and all that happens to her in the story. I look forward to having them listen to it and to hear what they think! This book is so fun to read. It makes for a very good transitional book because it is a picture book that is divided up into chapters. Each chapter is a different adventure that Louise, the bored chicken, finds herself on. After each escapade, she sleeps the deep sleep of the adventurer, but soon after longs for more excitement. At the end she tells all of her tales to her chicken friends and then they all sleep the deep sleep of the adventurer. There is not a lot of deep meaning to these tales, but they make for great read alouds, and share the value of friends and a welcoming home.
Do You like book Louise, Adventures Of A Chicken (2009)?
Never let it be said that to be a chicken means to live a dull life!
—devy
Drowning pirate image, a little too scary for storytime.
—Nate
