Book talk: The Trouble with Chickens (Virginia Readers' Choice, 2012-2013)

J. J. Tully, 'retired' rescue dog

Search and rescue dogs are really cool and really smart. They use their keen sense of smell, orders from humans, and animal intuition to find missing people. It’s a noble job. J. J. Tully is a rescue dog. He has found many missing people by sniffing them out of rubble, snow, darkness, and danger. But now he’s got a mother chicken harassing him. Wait…a mother chicken? Why would a mother chicken harass a rescue dog? Oh, right…missing chicks. So, how hard can it be to find a bunch of missing chicks? Hold on, let me ask J. J. Tully. [Pause.] Okay, much harder than finding humans. Humans stink. You can smell them miles away. 

A chick trail is much harder, especially when it’s pouring rain, you’ve got a mom chicken and two other chicks right behind you and a cryptic ransom note. This was the weirdest ransom note I have ever read. I have to read it to you. It says, “I have your peeps. It behooves you to rendezvous. Twilight. Your place.” What?!?! Who talks likes this? This is going to be one crazy, weird mystery.

The Trouble with Chickens: A J. J. Tully Mystery by Doreen Cronin, illustrated by Kevin Cornell. 119 pages. Balzer + Bray, 2011. Booktalk to intermediate grades. Virginia Readers’ Choice, 2012-2013.

The Trouble with Chickens: A J.J. Tully Mystery

Booktalk: Louise, The Adventures of a Chicken [Kate DiCamillo;4]

You know the expression, “There’s no place like home?” Well, Louise the chicken does not exactly believe that expression. She longs for adventure. Home, after all, is BORING. She wants to experience life on the sea, so she joined a sailing ship. [Show page with pirates.] Something really, really bad happened. Her sailing ship got hijacked by PIRATES. And let me tell you one thing about pirates. They love nothing more than a delicious, juicy, roasted chicken. So, Louise the chicken is probably thinking that home is a good place right now. But I can’t tell you how or if Louise got out of that one. I can tell you this, though. Louise has always been fond of adventure, and what could more adventurous than joining a circus? And what could be crazier than a chicken who is high-wire walker? With a loose lion just waiting below? Will Louise ever learn? Or will she be eaten before it’s too late? Louise, The Adventures of a Chicken by Kate DiCamillo.

Louise, the Adventures of a Chicken by Kate DiCamillo. Unpaged. 2008: Joanna Cotler Books. Booktalk to 2^nd-4^th.