Book Cover Image:
Book Summary: Narrated by “retired search-and-rescue
dog”, J.J. Tully, this is the story of the Chicken Squad, comprised of Dirt,
Sugar, Poppy, and Sweetie. The Chicken
Squad has been asked to help solve a mystery for a young and frightened
squirrel name Tail, who claims a huge and terrifying object is after him. Sugar, Dirt, Sweetie and Poppy are up to the
task and begin questioning Tail to get to the bottom of the case. They try to figure out the size and shape of
the object, but Tail does not know his shapes, so this is of little help. The Chicken Squad comes to the conclusion
that this object is a UFO and it is not after Tail, but that in fact, it wants
them. Suddenly they are on a mission to
save themselves, and their mother Moosh.
The Chicken Squad tries to fight off the UFO (a grill) and end up
causing quite the mess. In the end J.J.
Tully has to come to the rescue, although
he never lets the Chicken Squad know the truth.
APA Reference of
Book:
Cronin, D. (2014). The
chicken squad: the first misadventure. New York, NY.
Antheneum Books for Young Readers.
Impressions: This
is an extremely fun and creative story for young readers. Readers will enjoy following these four young
chickens as they try to help the slightly incompetent squirrel solve his
mystery. Along the way, the chickens not
only try to help solve the mystery, but help educate Tail in addition to
helping him overcome some of his fears.
This is not only a mystery story, but a tale of friendship, kindness,
humor, and family. It is enjoyable to
see the chickens work together and try to not only help Tail but also attempt
to “save” their mother in the process.
Cronin does a wonderful job of also letting the reader in on what is
going on, even if the chickens might not by privy to this same information.
The Chicken Squad certainly
contains all elements of a good mystery and is definitely well geared towards a
younger audience. There is nothing scary
about the story, which is great for the youngest of readers. Additionally, Cronin includes silly elements
to make young readers laugh and enjoy what they are reading. Readers are kept in suspense as to what the
mysterious object scaring the squirrel might be. This mystery element, along with the clues
given along the way, makes this book a perfect fit for the mystery genre. Also, Cronin does a tremendous job of
presenting a solution to the mystery in the end. Overall a well-written mystery book.
Professional
Review:
School Library Journal
-
Gr 1–3—Those cheeky chicks are back—this time in a
series all their own. Fresh on the heels of their adventures in The Trouble
with Chickens (2011) and The
Legend of Diamond Lil (2012, both HarperCollins), Dirt, Sugar, Sweetie, and
Poppy must now contend with a cowardly squirrel named Tail and a "big and
scary" something that has landed in the backyard. Using deductive
reasoning and some strangely creative camouflage, the chickens hatch a plan to investigate the mysterious object. The
curmudgeonly ex-police dog, J.J. Tully, lends his deadpan observations to the
humorous text, while Cornell's black-and-white illustrations bring Cronin's
oddball characters to life with a goofy charm. Kids who enjoyed the first two
books in the "J.J. Tully Mysteries" series will be delighted that the
four intrepid chicks take center stage in this laugh-out-loud new chapter book
series.—Kiera Parrott, School Library Journal
Source: Parrott, K. (2014). The chicken squad: the first misadventure. [Review
of the
book The chicken squad: the first misadventure
by D. Cronin].
School
Library Journal. (60)4. 116. Retrieved from http://libproxy.library.unt.edu:2052/hottopics/lnacademic/?verb=sr&csi=256569
Found Through: UNT Library Database – LexisNexis Academic
Library Uses: Ahead
of time, create a ThingLink (www.thinglink.com) page. This is an image that contains links to
resources of the creators choosing. This
ThingLink will cover “elements of a good mystery”. The librarian will include links to kid
friendly websites and videos about the mystery genre. The students can work in groups or
individually depending on the number of devices available. The students will explore the links and
determine what the elements of a good mystery are. Once they have come up with the elements they
will check with the librarian to ensure that they have come up with a good
list. This could also be done whole
group and a poster, or smartboard image could be developed to show their
findings. They will then evaluate “The Chicken
Squad” based on the elements that they come up with. This could also be used to evaluate any
future mystery books, or it could be used to evaluate mystery stories that they
come up with on their own.
No comments:
Post a Comment