Picture Book Worth Looking At

Chicky Chicky Chook Chook by Cathy MacLennan is one of our new picture books. I think it would be terrific read aloud for 2, 3, 4 year-olds. It reminds me a bit of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. The illustrations and mood are different. The repetition of sound, the fuzzy chicks the simple story line are all delightful.

Disappointing Curtis

Christopher Curtis of Bud Not Buddy fame, has written a couple of detective/fantasy books about a Mr Chickee and I'm sadly, not impressed. Ok, I admit I've only attempted to read Mr Chickee's Messy Mission but I stopped before I got to page 100 because it wasn't funny, wasn't engaging, and was disappointing. Publisher's Weekly got it right when it says "readers may find themselves yearning for fewer gimmicks and more connections between seemingly random events."
School Library Journal calls it "zany" but points out that there are "[w]acky characters, improbable happenings, weird challenges, and a chaotic plot" and lots of exclamation points. Perhaps Mr Curtis needs to sit quietly and think?

Or maybe I'm way off in left field and the readers of Captain Underpants will love these books!
Let me know what you think.