The Buk Buk Buk Festival

Feathers fly and humor abounds as the literary adventures of Henrietta, the talented chicken from The Plot Chickens continue for her. Thrilled to have her picture book published, Henrietta is all aflutter with excitement when she's invited to a local book festival. However, the event organizers did not count on having a chicken show up to sign books. Luckily, just when the festival director gives chase, Henrietta comes up with a clever plan to make herself heard and respected. As Henrietta's loyal local children's librarian explains, "A chicken who can write books is a national treasure.”

From School Library Journal

K-Gr 3—This is another offbeat and quirky entry in the series of "Poultry Parodies," a collection of picture books that feature chickens acting like people. In this story, Henrietta is a chicken who loves to read and write—rare talents for a chicken. Henrietta decides that the only way she will be published is to pretend to be human. She adopts the name of Henrietta Fowler, and, with inspiration from her three aunts, she writes and publishes Chickergarten. Auch's story is stuffed with numerous examples of wordplay, including the onomatopoeic title, the names of the fictional authors, and the ongoing silly use of egg throughout the story. For example, when Henrietta is invited to attend the Children's Book Festival, she "didn't need to brood over the invitation. She eggs-cepted right away." The story contains a second level of meaning as the Auchs slyly poke fun at the publishing review process and the difficulties of becoming a published author. At one point Henrietta eats the star that her book receives from The Corn Book, mistaking it for a bug. The illustrations are an unusual but interesting mix of realistic photographs and stylized digital art. VERDICT A fine book for a wordplay unit that celebrates the plucky outsider who brings a fresh perspective.—Sally James, South Hillsborough Elementary School, Hillsborough, CA