Wednesday 2 March 2016

Chicken Dance

Chicken Dance

Written by Tammi Sauer
Illustrated by Dan Santat
Published by Sterling Children's Books



There's a barnyard talent show and Marge and Lola are on a mission to win the grand prize.. tickets to see an Elvis Poultry concert - with references to nursery rhymes and of course Elvis, a fun book that will have you cheering on the chickens!




Marge and Lola are desperate to win those tickets but there's tough competition especially from the ducks, who win every year and like to remind the two chickens. But what can they do? They try their wings at bowling, juggling and even tightrope walking but fail terribly. They even attempt to fly but end up falling which the ducks can't help but mock. Even swimming is attempted but they totally sink. With the show about to start, they decide to wing it.. After the goats and pigs have performed and the cows have jumped over the moon, it's the ducks turn where they score a 9. Marge and Lola take to the stage and after one too many mean comments from the ducks, it puts them in a foul mood and they bawked, flapped and shook... leaving the crowd chanting for more. Though they're not able to beat the ducks score, someone has been watching from the shadows, it's Elvis Poultry and he thinks they rock and wants to add their act to the show. This doesn't go down well with the ducks and before feathers can fly.. well lets just say the cows came home!



There's lots of fun animal puns and silly humour, and I liked the illustrated dance references to well known dance scenes in films. It's fun and there's lots of references for adults to enjoy as well. Children and adults will find themselves rooting for the chickens, especially after they try so hard to find a talent but really they just needed to be themselves. 


I like the stylish illustrations by Dan Santat which works well with the story. As you can see in the photos above, Aoife interrupted my photo taking to point out the chickens - she's a little too young for this book yet as I would recommend ages 3/4+. Chicken Dance was first published in 2009 but this updated paperback edition was released last year and is available online.


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