Customer Reviews

Chicken Sunday

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CHICKEN SUNDAY is another one of my favorite Polacco books. This is a fabulous and emotionally touching story of an interracial friendship and the children's journey of love and service. Young Patricia (who has written another great episode about her rich and colorful life) and her two best friends Stewart and Winston (who happen to be black) want to buy the boy's gramma (Eula Mae) a hat that she has wanted but could not afford to buy. Since the death of her beloved babushka, Eula Mae also serves as Patricia's surrogate grandmother. The children witness an act of racism on the hat shop owned by the Holocaust survivor Mr. Kodinski. They were going to ask Kodinski for a job to raise the money to buy Eula Mae her favorite hat. Mr. Kodinski sees the children and assumes that they are responsible for the act of violence. Ultimately, the children redeem themselves by making Pysanky eggs for Mr. Kodinski to sell in his store. He tells them the story of his life and then gives the trio the hat. Naturally Eula Mae is thrilled.

CHICKEN SUNDAY is named after the chicken dinner that Eula Mae feed the children every Sunday after Church. This is another multi-cultural book teaching children that it is okay to have friendships with people who are different. Incidentally, Patricia remains close to these boys to this very day. It also exposes children to different types of racism. This book has a wonderful lesson for children and adults.

I am a big fan of Patricia Polacco, she's one of my favorite children's author/illustrators. This book lives up to my expectations: Warm, big-hearted pictures seem to burst from its pages--the images fill your heart and mind like old memories brought vividly to life. Ms. Polacco also places real photographs of real neighbors (in Oakland, California) amidst her soft, rolling illustrations, adding the intimacy of a scrapbook to this tale of interracial/intergenerational friendship and love.

After two boys are mistakenly accused by Mr. Kodinsky's shop (Mr. Kodinsky is a Holocaust survivor, look for the faded blue number on his left arm) their grandmother and mother help them make beautifully decorated eggs to show Mr. Kodinsky that they really are good boys. The ensueing bonds of friendship and treasured memories make for a wonderful family reading experience, especially for children attuned (or who need some exposure) to warmth and the joy of giving.

This author writes stories that really relate to the problems children face in today's society. She has the ability to write in a manner in which the reader feels he or she is being directly talked to at that given moment. A reader can also dig deep within his or her self to find thoughts and memories of happenings. in their lives that directly relate to the events and thoughts of her stories.

This book is about the diversity in the upbringing of children. One must believe that children are still being raised to know right from wrong. Throughout the story the children are being guided by a significant other that has very strong morals and beliefs. The children in turn have held those morals and beliefs to be their backbone in life. The children are kind, caring, helpful, and polite individuals because of their upbringing. They stand up for what they believe is right. All children should have the right to voice their opinion in a positive manner. All people have the right to be heard.

This book can be used in so many ways to teach a variety of lessons. The lessons could be about childhood memories, historical events, family life, customs, places, and different types of people. The strongest lesson to be taught could be on the six pillars of good character. A variety of different uses could be developed in regards to this book.

Children need guidance on how to do something and in what manner it should be done. Teachers and students need to be good role models for one another. This book stresses the importance of being a good person and why.

This book speaks volumes . . . especially how a life can be changed forever through a simple act of love and kindness. It seemed that Miss Eula was a beautiful person who just loved and cared for everyone around her by continually demonstrating the true principles of faith, hope, and love.

This book truly emphasizes those things that matter most: a faith in God, a loving family, and good friends.

Chicken Sunday was not only heart-warming and touching, but to me it clearly stated the importance of allowing that little "light" within our hearts to shine no matter what!

This book is an excellent educational tool, and can be easily used in various thematic units such as: family and friends.

I have always enjoyed Patricia Polacco books and will continue to read them to my loved ones and classes for many, many years to come!

Poignancy, humour, and detail are hallmarks of Polacco's books...and Chicken Sunday shines in all of these. Our girls (5 & 7)loved it so much that they asked for it to be read again as soon as we got to the end. All the telling things of a child's world, including being unfairly accused, secret hidey holes, and longing to show an adult how much they love them, are there. In addition there is a wonderful richness to the language, with images such as "a voice like deep thunder and slow rain".

As usual Patricia Polacco hits the mark with the lively characters and dialogue. The children are not depicted as sugary sweet, but as real life children. The grandmother is one that probably anyone over 40 remembers as their grandmother. It brings back memories of wanting something and sacrificing for it. In the world today that lesson can sometimes fall on deaf ears. The illustrations are the usual high standard that is evident in of all Polacco's books. A must read for families that remember the good old days and would like to have this generation remember them also

This book is wonderful. Patricia Polacco is a wonderful authorwho tells such real life stories. I love the fact that they worked sohard to buy the hat for Miss Eula. Also she does beautiful illustrations. From the pictures you can find out so much more about the story. The language she uses in this book is so real that you can almost really hear them talking. I would reccomend this book to anyone who likes to read. Patricis Polacco can touch the heart of all people, young and old!

I read it in class. I loved the project that we did about it! We made signs with Pysanky eggs and egg baskets and we had to make a price. And I made a basketwith eggs in it and it cost buy one get one free for a dollar. kay that's all! Oh, and my mom came and showed us how to make pysanky eggs! kay... THATS IT

Miss Eula admires a beautiful hat she'd like to wear on Easter Sunday, but, because the hat is too expensive, it's out of reach. Her grandchildren and a close neighbor want to give it to her as a gift and search for an innovative way to make it a reality. Chicken Sunday is another picture book by Patricia Polacco filled with lyrical language that makes the reader feel like they are listening to a personal memoir. The story is as beautiful as Miss Eula's hat.
--Reviewed by Michelle Delisle

ISBN 059046244x - It's great to find an author like Patricia Polacco, who consistently writes fantastic books for children and who draws them from her own life. While I stumble across one of these books from a random author every now and then, Polacco is one of the few certainties.

Patricia's friendship with her neighbors, Stewart and Winston Washington, gives her much more than just a couple of pals. Through them, she's exposed to ethnic differences (they're black, she's not) and a religion other than her own and the friendship also fills a void in her life since her babushka's death two summers earlier, by bringing into her life the boys' gramma, Miss Eula. As the group returns from church, Miss Eula stops to sigh over a hat in Mr Kodinski's store window. Determined to get it for her, Patricia and the boys approach the store owner at a bad time and find themselves accused of throwing eggs at his store. The children need to explain and win him over or they'll never be able to get the hat for Miss Eula. Patricia and her mother teach the boys how to decorate Pyansky eggs (Ukrainian Easter Eggs) which they give to Mr Kodinski. Touched by the gesture and the reminder of his homeland, he shares his life story and finds a way for the children to earn the money - but gives them the hat for free.

There is so much, as an adult, to love about this book. It is not likely a simple accident that eggs are both the weapon used against Mr Kodinski and the thing that heals the rift between him and the kids. The anti-Semitism in the book is sandwiched between more positive feelings between people. First, there's the loving relationship between Patricia and the Washingtons and, at the end, the friendship between the children and Mr Kodinski. In between, there is Mr Kodinski and the vandalism to his store. Most children aren't likely to know that Mr Kodinski is Jewish (unless they recognize the word "chutzpah"), and the number on his forearm is subtle in relation to the images it's in. That leaves a wonderful opening as a conversation starter.

Patricia's love for Miss Eula and her family is evident throughout the book, especially in the repetition of the line "a voice that sounds like slow thunder and sweet rain" to describe Miss Eula's singing voice. While the illustrations are nice, they're not spectacular, but they have spectacular touches. Scattered on surfaces throughout the Washington home are picture frames. The photos inside those picture frames are real photos, ones that I assume came from "a dear old yearbook with photos of the Washington family" mentioned on the copyright/dedication page, as well as the author's personal collection. The Orthodox saints' images on the walls and the samovar in front of them in Patricia's living room, the darker rooms and plain wooden table are all in contrast to the praying hands, the bible, the flowery tablecloth and colorful china of the Washingtons and both are drastically different from the plain, somberly dressed Mr Kodinski, sitting among his bright, frilly hats and hatboxes.

This is not a book to buy and hand to your child. The target audience is 4 to 8 year olds and leaving them alone with the book... seems criminally negligent! Chicken Sunday offers parents a wonderful opportunity for the discussion of everything from black and white relations to the Holocaust, from religion to simpler lessons like love, from the definition of family to the importance of traditions. Those are the conversations that raise better people, so sit down and read this one, talk about this one, take the opportunity it offers - and raise some better people. By the way, if you're interested in more on the eggs Patricia's babushka made, check out Rechenka's Eggs (Paperstar).

- AnnaLovesBooks