Customer Reviews

Chicks and Salsa

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My seven year old LOVES this book! The story is clever, unique and FUNNY! The illustrations are wonderful and hilarious. And there are even recipes included, which is great for any enterprising child who wants to whip up some Mexican cuisine. We highly recommend this book!

A pig can eat only so much slop. Fowl may need to part from their feed. Even a duck might tire of fish.

This is the premise of "Chicks and Salsa," a celebration of culinary diversity in general, salsa in particular. The "salsafication" of the farm animals is the brainchild of a rebellious rooster, although there's a rat (literal, not figurative) who--behind the scenes--supplies the ingredients. The rooster is the face of the salsa revolution, but the rat, lurking stealthily on most pages, is the muscle.

Like a great chef or musician, Aaron Reynolds riffs on salsa within a structured format. AS the zest for salsa spreads from one species to another, the recipes change. The rooster and chickens pick farm fresh (naturally) onions and tomatoes, the ducks dine on cilantro and garlic, and the pigs go for beans and chopped chilis. Paulette Bogan gives these mischievous animals distinctive personalities and emotion. She draws a bored chicken like no one else. A pig turns fier red after eating chilis, while another pig proudly juggles them. Bogan's seems to thrive on low-light scenes; the animals become luminescent, and their glow warms the barn and surrounding farmland. Her shadows and shadings use unusual color combinations, and the fiesta preparations are vivid and rich.

Sadly, the fiesta never takes place, as the humans, who finally wake up and smell the animals' spices, seize all the ingredients for a tamale entree entry at the state fair. The conclusion is a little bit abrupt, but it's clever: The rooster sneaks into the kitchen, and with the rat's help shifts from one cuisine to another, becoming a master at crepes. The fiesta turns into something of a salon, and--zut alors--the animals done "French" clothes, a bit of attitude, and share the hors d'ouevres. "Chicks and Salsa" is delightfully entertaining, with mugging animals and other silly stuff alternating with keenly observed humor. The very talented Bogan gives the reader a visual feast on every page; the animals look as welcoming as teddy bears. 34 pages long, with a book cover that can be made into a poster, and three recipes to try: "Hog Wild Nachos," "Quackamole," and "Rooster's Toasted Salsa."

My two-year-old loves this book. I like reading it to him. The author has a great ear for alliteration and near alliteration, and there are so many sentences in the book that are just fun to say!

The story is solidly entertaining, and the illustrations, as others have pointed out, have the prerequisite little details (spiders, butterflies, mice, little birds) that little kids love to find.

My only problem is with the end, and it's only as an adult reading the story, and it's really minor, but: I can't stand it that the Rooster prepares a dish with *eggs* at the end!

This is a delightful story with outstanding illustrations. My grandchildren and I still laugh at the story and pictures even after many, many readings. I wish there would be a sequel where they continue with French food. The inside of the hardback's dust jacket is a special treat as well, and the recipes that follow are fun to make with kids. This book is a real winner!

Lively and vibrant illustrations. Like a good picture book, there's something to be discovered on each page. And after you've read it once, you'll probably want to do it all over again just to see what else is going on in these colorful pages. This one's a keeper! Very fun. Olé!

I have purchased this book as a gift for children of many ages and all seem to have the same response- please read it again!!!! The drawings especially make them gleeful. Highly recommended.

Chicks and Salsa is the perfect book for readers with a great sense of humor and a great appetite! The illustrations are beautiful. Any kid will get a kick out of this fun book.

My daughter is 6 years old, and this is one of her favorite books. Some of the key ingredients of the book are:
- chickens who are very tired of eating the same feed every day
- ducks who are tired of fish
- pigs who are tired of slop
- a garden without food

Then introduce some spices and salsa, shake and stir, and you have a fiesta of flavors which no animal or human could pass up.

Who doesn't love chicks who are bored and want a little excitement in the barnyard? This book shows the playful side of animals who work together to create a fiesta. Great illustrations with recipes included. I have ordered multiple copies of this book for my student teachers in primary grade, as well as using this book to teach reading strategies to my college class. I have ordered multiple copies of this book, and figure to add a few more. *****

Using 'real' words (not kiddie simple) and pages loaded with fun details, this book is fantastic! It's fun to read, with places for everyone to shout out, and the pictures are so detailed that you'll notice new things for at least the first 4 times you read it. It's our favorite book and we bought it for all of our kid friends this year!