The Hoboken Chicken Emergency [Hardcover]

Daniel Pinkwater (Author), Jill Pinkwater (Illustrator)

Book Description

Though no one in Arthur Bobowicz's family cares much for turkey, when the butcher loses the family's Thanksgiving turkey order, Arthur frantically searches Hoboken for another fowl to take home to dinner. Unfortunately, it looks like every bird in town is spoken for -- until Arthur happens to find a mad inventor who offers to sell Arthur one of his "superchickens" at a bargain price of six cents per pound (and NO REFUNDS).

When Arthur returns home with Henrietta, his mother refuses to cook a sixfoot, 266-pound chicken, which is fine because Arthur has started to grow fond of her. But then Henrietta accidentally wanders off alone, and dreadful rumors of a dangerous monster running amok through the city spread like wildfire, causing panicky townspeople to cower in their homes. With Henrietta on the loose, the city of Hoboken will never be the same.

Since 1977, Daniel Pinkwater's hilarious tale of a boy and his chicken has tickled the funny bones of thousands of readers. Now paired with Jill Pinkwater's droll illustrations, the stage is set for the next generation of fans.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Children's Book Review Service An uproar of a book. Funniest book of the season. -- Review

About the Author

Daniel and Jill Pinkwater have also collaborated on such picture books as Rainy Morning and Wallpaper from Space. Daniel has penned many other popular stories; he also reviews children's books for NPR and developed the new Chinwag Theater. The Pinkwaters live in Hyde Park, New York.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 112 pages
• Publisher: Atheneum (October 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689830602
• ISBN-13: 978-0689830600
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,821,947 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Daniel Pinkwater lives with his wife, the illustrator and novelist Jill Pinkwater, and several dogs and cats in a very old farmhouse in New York's Hudson River Valley.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BIG Chicken Story!, October 8, 2000

By 

Roz Levine - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Hoboken Chicken Emergency (Paperback)

Arthur Bobowicz of Hoboken, New Jersey is given $16.00 and the important task of buying this year's Thanksgiving turkey, a really big one, since the entire family will be coming for Thanksgiving dinner. But when he gets to the meat market, there are no turkeys left...no chickens or ducks or fowl of any kind. As he walks the streets trying to figure out what to do, he comes across a sign in an apartment house window, Professor Mazzocchi Inventor of the Chicken System, and thinks to himself that this looks promising. The Professor tells him he's in luck, takes his money, hands him a large chicken and slams the door yelling, "No refunds!" Unfortunately, what Arthur is holding is not a dinner chicken, but a 266 pound, live chicken wearing a leash, named Henrietta. So begins the Hoboken Chicken Emergency. And when Henrietta gets loose, the real fun begins. Daniel Pinkwater has written a very imaginative, funny, absurd story that's just perfect for 9 and 10 year olds. With fast paced scenes and hilarious story events, your youngsters will be laughing out loud while turning pages to the very end. The Hoboken Chicken Emergency is a classic and a tall tale that's not to be missed.

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Chickens Need Our Love!, February 13, 2001

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Hoboken Chicken Emergency (Paperback)

The Hoboken Chicken Emergency was a really good book. It is a good book for third grade and up to read on their own. It takes place in Hoboken, New Jersey around Thanksgiving. It's about a boy named Arthur who goes to look for a turkey for Thanksgiving. The problem comes when he can't find one. Instead he ends up getting a 266 pound chicken named Henrietta. Arthur tries to keep the chicken as a pet but it runs away. Henrietta (the chicken) feels unwanted and creates diasters all over town. Read the book to find out what happens next. We thought the book was hilarious, funny, and exciting. We are nine and ten years old and we liked the book alot!

34 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars When a Giant Chicken Falls Flat, August 25, 2000

By 

Gillian M. Kendall (Leeds, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Hoboken Chicken Emergency (Paperback)

Before I ordered this book, I read the reviews. I bcame convinced this must be a zany, funny book -- just the thing for my children. So I went ahead and ordered not *The Hoboken Chicken Emergency" only, but a volume of novels by Pinkwater. Oh, well. It's only money (though it could have been better spent elsewhere).

*The Hoboken Chicken Emergency* does have a wonderful premise and some satire as well (hence my pleasure at reading its reviews). I suppose it also has lessons to be learned about fearing the unknown -- but didacticism is not enough to make a good book. Nothing covers up for the fact that this book just plain isn't very good -- not for a modern child to read. I knew I was in trouble when I began reading it aloud to my son: each sentence had a dying fall, and the wit was strained, not spontaneous and fetching. "What am I getting into," I thought. Henrietta the chicken is lost and Henrietta is found, but the whole thing was a contest to see if I could finish the book before my child rebelled -- or I did.

Sad to say, this book shows its age. Some of the writing, too, needs polish. If you are tempted to buy this self-consciously zany book, buy *I Was a Rat* instead. *I Was a Rat* is all heart. *The Hoboken Chicken Emergency* is all lumpy prose. I'm hoping for better things with the other Pinkwater volumes I purchased, but we shall have to see. I love older rediscovered books, but this one doesn't work. Children expect more depth of story, not just cleverness at the expense of story. I'm very sure readers have fond memories of this book, but memory alone cannot bring the book alive for a modern audience. Give *The Hoboken Chicken Emergency* a pass, and go for a funny book that's meaty with heart and soul. If *I Was a Rat" doesn't appeal, you might try *The Little Prince* (Antoine de Sainte-Exupery) -- my son doesn't really understand it, but he loves it and seems to recognize that there are real issues underlying the surface.