Illustrator: Katie Davis
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry (April 19, 2011)
Audience: Ages 2 to 6
Source: Advanced Readers Copy
Description from GoodReads:
"I hear you cluckin', Big Chicken!" That's the simple refrain that Little Chicken repeats to his mama throughout a typical day. But Little Chicken can be distractable . . . and when he wanders off and gets lost, the day becomes anything but typical. With subtlety and humor, this sweet little story sweeps through a wide range emotions using the simplest of language.
From husband and wife team Katie and Jerry Davis, this is a little book with a huge heart. The perfectly minimal illustrations and spare text belie the enormous message at its core: that with family, help is always just a cluck away.
Producing a children's picture book for toddlers and preschoolers that is entertaining for young children and for the adult who will be reading it aloud is not easy. Some books are cloyingly sweet. Others are a bit to sing-songy with the text. Some books have great illustrations but lack memorable text, and then there is the opposite - poetic text with lackluster illustrations. However, Little Chicken's Big Day from Jerry and Katie Davis may literally be my favorite picture book for this age group so far in 2011 (which is saying a lot since I probably have read over 300 pictures books since January).
I am not sure whether I lost my heart to the refrain "I hear you cluckin', Big chicken" or the picture of little chicken strapped into a car seat. Jerry Davis' first attempt at a children's picture book is impressive. His text captures perfectly the amusing wanderings of this baby chick on his outing with mama chick. From the time, mama chick gets little chick up and ready all the way to bedtime, readers will delight in little chicken's antics. Of course, Katie Davis' illustrations amazingly depict the emotions of the story from the look on little chick's face while buckled into the car seat (the "I don't like being buckled in" face) to the happy relief of finding his mommy after wandering off. Their collaboration has succeeded in producing a book that not only will have young children saying "again" upon reaching the end, but one that even mommies & daddies who are reading it will want to read "one more time".
I look forward to future collaborative efforts from the husband and wife team of Jerry Davis and Katie Davis. Little Chicken's Big Day will definitely be added to my list of books to give new parents or or as gifts to my favorite little friends.
You can find out more about Katie Davis and her books at http://katiedavis.com/blog/welcome/
And you can find her on twitter: @katiedavisburps
And don't forget to watch the book trailer for Little Chicken's Big Day. It makes me laugh and is probably my favorite book trailer of 2011.
