Supernatural Rubber Chicken: Fowl Language

Supernatural Rubber Chicken: Fowl Language by D.L. Garfinkle, illustrated by Ethan Long. Reviewed from ARC provided by author. Publication date: June 2008

The Plot: The best thing about some books is the title says it all: Supernatural. Rubber. Chicken. I mean, c'mon, it doesn't get better than that, does it?

OK, twins Nate and Lisa, 10, are given the Supernatural Rubber Chicken by their older brother, surfer dude Dave. They don't believe him when he says that the chicken has magical powers; I mean, he is a surfer dude who lives in Arizona.

But then they discover that the chicken really does have powers. Not only that? He talks. Or should I say, complains. And -- his name is Ed.

The Good: A fun, silly read.

What grown-ups will like: the twins' mother is a children's book writer who spends all her time at her computer. Whatever the kids say, including Dave leaving for a surfing trip, is greeted by an absent minded "great dear" as she types away at the Next Great Children's Novel, which, of course, will have a dead dog.

The chicken's magic power is to grant the wish of a super power...for someone else. Which is a nice twist, and I look forward to seeing what happens in other books. Here, for instance, Nate and Lisa each have a friend that they want to help out. Lisa wins, but because the wish is granted to the first person who touches the chicken after the wish is made, there are, of course, unexpected and wacky results.

Here's an example of the humor; a description of a classmate. He had to wait a long time for Dan the Dawdler, who still had to put away his binder, tie his shoes, and think about the meaning of life.

Oh! And I almost forgot. Ed talks; but only Nate and Lisa can hear him. So when other people are around, it's a problem. Lisa is on the bus, and Ed is complaining:

"Concern!" Ed shouted. "You're only concerned about yourself. You couldn't care less about a helpless old bird, could you? No one cares about me. Wah! I feel tears building up behind my beady eyes."

"Oh, little chicken," Lisa said in a gentle voice.

Lisa's [bus] seatmate said, "It's not nice to call me a little chicken just because I'm scared of a spelling test."

Links:
Review at Periphereia

A Girl, A Boy, And A Monster Cat

A Girl, A Boy And A Monster Cat by Gail Gauthier, illustrated by Joe Cepeda. ARC supplied by author. Publication date June 2007.

The Plot. A girl. A boy. A monster cat.

OK, there's more than that, but I couldn't resist. As an aside, since the title reminds me of my blog name, I now have to refer to this book as Monster Cat.

Brandon's ideal afterschool activity? Watching TV. Hannah's ideal afterschool activity? Hunting dinosaurs (aka turkeys) in the backyard, sailing a pirate ship (tree in the backyard), saving the world from her monster cat (aka Buttercup.)

Hannah's mom babysits for Brandon after school three days a week. So Brandon gets dragged into Hannah's school games. With surprising and amusing results.

The Good: Gauthier brings the funny. The humor is often very dry; for example, when Brandon describes Hannah he says "Her games are like really bad TV shows. Only you can't turn the channel to something better because you're part of the show."

Brandon often likes Hannah's games, tho he won't always admit it. Especially since Hannah has the knack of pushing the game a wee bit too far. And of giving Brandon the worst part of the game. Often, the cat has a better role than Brandon.

Part of the humor is from Hannah herself; she is blunt, confident, and has no idea she may rub someone the wrong way. Upon meeting the new neighbor, Hannah asks "is your house haunted?" Brandon recognizes that the new neighbor does the equivalent of back away slowly from Hannah; Hannah herself has no idea that she's scared the neighbor.

Monster Cat is under 9o pages; and perfect for the "just finished easy readers, scared off by how long chapter books are now that everyone thinks they have to compete with Harry Potter" crowd. Brandon and Hannah are in third grade; and this will be a fun read for younger grades.

Monster Cat is the perfect book to show that reading is fun. In addition to the manageable overall length, the individual chapters are short, each one able to stand alone as a short story (there is an overall story arc, also); and Cepeda's illustrations are amusing. (Hey, I just realized he did the illustrations for one of my favorite picture books ever!)

What else? I like that this is one of those books that creates Drama from the everyday life of real kids. At it's heart, it's about two imaginative kids, their neighborhood, a cat, a dog.

Links:

More info on the origins of Monster Cat (first in a series) at Gail's website.
Gail's blog, Original Content.