Looking for Bobowicz: A Hoboken Chicken Story [Hardcover]

Daniel Pinkwater (Author), Jill Pinkwater (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 25, 2004 | Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up

When Nick moved from the leafy suburbs to muggy, urban Hoboken and his bike was stolen, he wasn't pleased.

Then he found

• a place where he could listen to pirate radio
• friends with a stack of Classics Comics
• newspaper reports about a kid named Arthur Bobowicz and a 266-pound chicken named Henrietta
• the secret entrance to Sibyl's Cave
• and much, much more, all of it practically true.

Get an ice-cold Dr. Pedwee's grape soda and prepare to enjoy this Pinkwater Special, complete with saucy dialogue, snarky wordplay, more than a few red herrings, and one bowl of disgusting oyster stew.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-8–When his parents move to Hoboken, NJ, and his bike is stolen the first hour he's there, clever and resourceful middle-grader Ivan Itch goes looking for the thief, and in the process meets quirky adults and solves some mysteries. He becomes friends with neighborhood kids Bruno Ugg and Loretta Fischetti, and they attend the town's Bat Hat Festival, where a tall, phantomlike figure appears. He pedals away on Ivan's "light blue bike with pink hearts and flowers painted on the frame." Then the children's Classics Comics books are missing. Surprises and plot twists pepper the story as the youngsters set out to discover just what is going on. The adults evade their logical questions about a mysterious, oversized chicken and the young detectives seek help from the librarian, Starr Lackawanna, "a woman with wild hair, wearing what looked like a gym suit with rainbow-striped leg warmers and cape." With her assistance, the children, especially Ivan, piece together the evidence that the phantom is hiding the stolen goods in an old abandoned cave. The 266-pound hen Henrietta who starred in The Hoboken Chicken Emergency (Aladdin, 1977) enters the scene and sets the stage for many laughs. Ivan is a well-developed character, and readers are likely to sympathize with him. Jill Pinkwater's black-and-white, block-print illustrations are a perfect match for this zany story that's sure to elicit lots of grins.–James K. Irwin, Nichols Library, Naperville, IL
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 4-6. Strange things are happening in Hoboken. For starters, a phantom has stolen newcomer Ivan ("call me Nick") Itch's bicycle. And then there are all those rumors about a giant chicken on a rampage. What's going on? Well, it's hard to say, since there's a local tradition that nobody ever gives information in response to a direct question. Ivan/Nick is convinced that Arthur Bobowicz has the answers--if he could ever locate him, that is. Meanwhile, the phantom strikes again. Ivan finds allies in his new friends Bruno Ugg, Loretta Fischetti, and local librarian Starr Lackawanna, who is "crazy as a bat." Of course, she's in good company, since everything in this sequel-of-sorts to The Hoboken Chicken Emergency (1999) is pretty nutty. But then Daniel Pinkwater is the czar of zany, so what else would you expect? Perhaps, a few more unforced laughs. Not the master's best work, but a pleasant enough diversion for fans. Michael Cart
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (May 25, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060535547
• ISBN-13: 978-0060535544
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #268,454 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

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Do you feel like chicken tonight?, January 13, 2005

By 

E. R. Bird "Ramseelbird" (Manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Looking for Bobowicz: A Hoboken Chicken Story (Hardcover)

There is much to be said in praise of any book that revolves around a giant rampaging chicken. It's one of those images that sticks so nicely in the brain. In the case of "Looking For Bobowicz", this is just the latest in author Daniel Pinkwater's poultry chronicles (the first being, "The Hoboken Chicken Emergency", of course). In this tale you may meet delightfully eccentric adults, sane reasonable children, a mysterious phantom, and the memory of a chicken who rocked a town with its flutter.

To his chagrin, Nick (real name Ivan Itch) has moved from comfortable Happy Valley to uncomfortable urban Hoboken, New Jersey. Nick is not pleased with the move (his mother didn't want him growing up with bad suburban influences) but quickly finds some like-minded pals living next door to his new home. He also gets his bike stolen by a mysterious phantom. Before he knows it, he and his friends Loretta and Bruno are rushing to the library to solve the mystery of the phantom and to get back what once was theirs.

In a lot of ways, this book definitely harkens back to Avi's, "No More Magic". Same reading level. Same mysterious being stealing the main character's bike right at the start of the story. Same otherworldly feel to the tale and peculiar kids banding together to solve the crime. And like Avi's book there's a slightly disjointed feel to the narrative. This isn't to say I didn't enjoy the book, though. I mean, a book has won my instant admiration if it contains, at some point, a father telling his son (who is going to try to capture a bat), "if you should get bitten, tell me at once so I can arrange for the series of painful shots". And there was much to enjoy in the tale as well. What kid can't relate to the wonders of exploring a basement full to brimming with mysterious junk? Or reading comic books (of literary classics, no less) while munching on sandwiches and Dreamsicles? Or following a series of clues to a mysterious cave deep below the earth?

There were definitely some odd choices in the story though. The mom of Nick often remarks on the wonderful influences of the big city on kids, which I assumed was a play on those mothers who think that way about the suburbs. The book doesn't dwell much on details and has some of the shortest chapters I've ever encountered. Also, adults' actions are left somewhat mysterious without reason. And there are some definite inconsistencies between the text and the pictures drawn by Jill Pinkwater. Little niggling things like the books saying the chicken was riding on a tricycle when it is CLEARLY riding a two-wheeled bike. But these are tiny matters. In the end the real question is whether or not this book successfully enthralls. And the answer is yes. Yes indeed it does.

So if you are looking for a work of fiction that is a little older reading than your average "Cam Jansen", but you don't want to hand your children something as complex and high-handed as "His Dark Materials", "Looking For Bobowicz" is an excellent alternative. For any kid that loves his or her average chicken mystery, this one takes the cake. It's sly, inventive, and cocky. Ha ha.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Welcome Return to the Old Neighborhood, June 11, 2004

By 

Len Schiff "writer and teacher" (Little Neck, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Looking for Bobowicz: A Hoboken Chicken Story (Hardcover)

I yelped with delight when I saw this on the shelf, and tore into it without further ado. Two minutes in, I was wearing a wide grin-- this is classic Pinkwater.

Pinkwater's Hoboken, like his Hogboro, is a dream city, one that opens itself up to explorers, revealing eccentric locals, funky hangouts and esoteric eats and drinks along the way (Avocado-Lime Soda, anyone?). Books, comics and pirate radio abound-- and there's nary a website in sight. In Pinkwater's hands, Hoboken has a timeless, shopworn feel, grounded in history (fictional and not) but glowingly alive.

The story's not much-- mostly a means of propelling the protagonists through the city-- but it provides a strong framework on which Pinkwater hangs his characteristically sharp dialogue, insightful kid's-eye observations, and obscure cultural references. Figures from previous Pinkwater stories appear here, sometimes with altered names. And you may want to consult your local Blockbuster's collection of Italian Neo-Realism when you're done reading.

Bobowicz certainly feels like late Pinkwater. The book starts with the narrator's family moving out of the suburbs and back into the city, and the characters from The Hoboken Chicken Emergency loom in the background as hazy figures from the past. Still, it's nice to know that, at least in Hoboken, Classic Comics will always be read in basements and librarians will always provide useful, if loopy, assistance to questing urbanites.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pinkwater's back on the Hoboken Beat, July 14, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Looking for Bobowicz: A Hoboken Chicken Story (Hardcover)

Nick Itch's mom wants him to have "an urban experience" so the family moves from Happy Valley to an old house in the waterfront city of Hoboken. Nick bonds with the kids next door over over bottles of Dr. Pedwee's soda and Classic Comics. Soon the friends get caught up in a search, not for meaning, but for Bobowicz. Delivered in Pinkwater's seemingly effortless, jazz-like prose style, this sequel to his classic HOBOKEN CHICKEN EMERGENCY is a delight.