The Hoboken Chicken Emergency [Paperback]

Daniel Pinkwater (Author), Tony Auth (Illustrator)

Book Description

Release date: September 25, 2007 | Age Range: 6 and up

SOMETHING'S FOWL IN HOBOKEN.

When Arthur Bobowicz is sent out to bring home the family's Thanksgiving turkey, he returns instead with Henrietta -- a 266 pound chicken with a mind of her own. Feathers fly when this colossal clucker descends upon Hoboken, New Jersey. Thus begins the hilarious hen-tastic tall tale that has kept readers in stitches since Henrietta first pecked her way onto the scene in 1977.

Revised with brand new illustrations by Pulitzer Prize winner Tony Auth, this new edition of The Hoboken Chicken Emergency will have readers crowing so hard with laughter, they may just lay an egg!

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An uproariously funny and surprisingly sophisticated book." -- Newsweek

"The story has vitality and rock-the-boat humor." -- School Library Journal

"A contemporary tall tale that will stretch middle graders' imagination, sense of humor, and enthusiasm for reading. For absurdity with perfect timing, not many can match." -- Booklist

"An uproar of a book. You're so busy laughing." -- Children's Book Review Service

About the Author

Daniel Pinkwater is the author of several bestselling children's

books as well as a popular commentator on National Public Radio. He writes

regular reviews on Contentville.com. Daniel lives in Hyde Park, New York.

Tony Auth has been the editorial cartoonist for the Philadelphia

Enquirer since 1971. He won a Pulitzer Prize for his work in 1976, as

well as five Overseas Press Club Awards and the Sigma Delta Chi Award for

Distinguished Service in Journalism. His cartoons are distributed around

the world by Universal Press Syndicate.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 6 and up
  
• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Aladdin; Reprint edition (September 25, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416928103
• ISBN-13: 978-1416928102
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.2 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #43,142 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #9 in Books > Children's Books > Holidays & Celebrations > Thanksgiving
  • #23 in Books > Children's Books > Animals > Ducks & Other Waterfowl
  • #81 in Books > Children's Books > Animals > Farm Animals

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.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful

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

By Roz Levine

Format: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.

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful

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

A Kid's Review

Format: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!

36 of 46 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

Format: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. Read more ›

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The Hoboken Chicken Emergency April 9, 2005

By not4prophet

Format:Paperback

At the start of "The Hoboken Chicken Emergency", we learn that no one in the Bobowicz family likes turkey, but they eat one on Thanksgiving anyway because that's what you're supposed to do on Thanksgiving. This is our first clue that Mr. Pinkwater is on the trail of something more than a farce about colossal rampaging poultry. This is a novel of ideas, one that's intended to pry into young minds and make them question their assumptions.

Later in the book, we get a political scandal. The mayor of the town hires Tony, an out-of-town chicken-catching expert. He looks legit, and he talks big, but can Tony actually deliver what he promises? If children take the lesson of this chapter to heart, they'll be better prepared for a world full of cons and scam artists. And who can argue with that? Come to think of it, most adults I know could also use such preparation as well.

Children's literature is in a low, with nonsense like the "Captain Underpants" series that does little more than reward kids for being vulgar and boorish. "The Hoboken Chicken Emergency" is one example of an author standing against the current. It's appropriate for all ages.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A great introduction to the fantastic world of Pinkwater. February 9, 1997

By A Customer

Format:Turtleback

This short tale of a kid in Hoboken is a great introduction to the fantastic world of Pinkwater, on par with his classic Fat Men From Space. Juvinile and zany, but with classic themes and deft efficiency of prose that will be appreciated outside of the targeted elementary age group. Illustrated by the author, with the same blunt and juvinile, and at once refined, efficiency of his literature