Mark Svendsen and Ben Redlich’s picture book follows the exploits of Whacko, a lonely chook whose attempts to make friends with some of the other chickens in the barnyard are repeatedly rejected. Whacko’s persistence is endearing-‘I won’t find a friend by running away’-and sends a positive message to children. However the ending and its accompanying moral sit a little oddly with this message. The ending: Whacko finds herself a friend by laying an egg named Rodney. The moral: ‘having some quiet time to yourself can sometimes end up with some pretty fine results.’ I’m not sure how this is meant to help kids who have trouble making friends in their schoolyard. The highlight of this picture book is undoubtedly the pictures. The exaggerated pen-and-ink depictions of the chickens’ bony legs, scrawny necks, plump breasts and bulging, bug eyes are highly amusing, although they may not be to every child’s taste. These are some pretty eccentric chooks! The language is colourful-a mixture of rhyming snippets, repeated phrases and exaggerated animal sounds-and complements the illustrations well.

Andrea Hanke is assistant editor of JUNIOR BOOKSELLER+PUBLISHER

This review from Australian Bookseller & Publisher magazine is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2008, Thorpe-Bowker

Tags: mark svendsen & ben redlich