My Life as a Chicken [Hardcover]

Ellen A. Kelley (Author), Michael Slack (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 3 and up | Grade Level: P and up

When Pauline Poulet learns she'll be the next special of the day at Cock-a-Doodle-Doo Café, she flies the coop faster than you can say "Chicken pie, delicious"! Thus begins her journey of peril and catastrophe, courage and chance: She is chased. She is dunked. She is tossed tail over beak. But can Pauline escape the dinner plate?

     

Kids everywhere will love clucking along with this chicken's battle cry: "Pauline, prevail!"

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Starred Review. Kindergarten-Grade 3—Pauline Poulet reveals all in this tale of adventure. After hearing the farmer plotting to put her in a chicken pie, the plucky hen escapes her dreary life of doing nothing but laying eggs and winds up in a scary wood. She outfoxes the fox chasing her, and her new motto is born: "Pauline, Prevail!" But things get worse when she falls into the river and is picked up by pirate cats; she barely escapes the bloodthirsty ship's cook and, after a slight problem with a hot-air balloon and a kite, she lands safely in a petting zoo, where she takes up residence happily ever after. Slack's digital mixed-media illustrations are wacky and cartoonish, and the text ripples with big, impressive words befitting the exaggerated nature of Pauline's adventures: "I navigate high altitudes,/an aeronaut with fortitude./Above me burns a blaze of stars,/below the view blurs fast and far." Language-arts teachers will have a field day with this one, and the tone and zany sensibilities of the story and pictures are a perfect match for the funny bones of an early elementary audience.—Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Carroll County Public Library, MD
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Pauline Poulet is a frantic little bird with a perilous life that includes escapes from boredom, frying pans, foxes, pirates, and typhoons. The pace of this hen's hyperbolic storytelling is so fast that the text careens past occasional forced rhymes, rhythms, and even reason. The digital mixed-media illustrations ably exaggerate the tall-tale elements of the story. Slack's saturated palette is enhanced by the use of highlights and shadows to emphasize specific visual elements--rolling eyes and mobile mouths express the personalities of the players, from poulet to pirate. Images and text are used together to balance the compositions, and vigorous, emphatic use of line adds energy to each spread. A variety of typefaces and exclamatory text in an assortment of colors and sizes adds to the rollicking humor of Pauline's perils. The lengthy text may slow down some readers, but the art is strong enough to pick them up and carry them along. Janice Del Negro
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books (May 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152053069
• ISBN-13: 978-0152053062
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 10.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #435,212 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Perils of Pauline, April 29, 2007

By 

Lee Wardlaw "Lee Wardlaw" (Santa Barbara, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Life as a Chicken (Hardcover)

'But round my roost I hear suspicious Words like Chicken Pie, Delicious . . . ' Pauline Poulet begins her autobiography as a typical chick, resigned to peep and peck and do what chickens do best: lay eggs. But one day, she spies The Farmer drooling over "101 Chicken Recipes" and knows he is contemplating murder most fowl. Now she must choose: be Plucky or Plucked. So with a brawk and a squawk, it's hens, away! Pauline flies the coop as fast as her tasty drumsticks will carry her. Life isn't easy, however, on the other side of the picket fence. In from-frying-pan-into-the-fire fashion, she faces a carton of bad eggs: snarling foxes, hungry hawks, even peg-legged pirates, all with omelets on their minds. But Pauline prevails, landing `wilted, wounded, weak of wing' in the arms of some very special rescuers. Award-winning poet Ellen Kelley has hatched a hilarious, heart-ful tale with rollicking rhythms, active alliterations, and a rhyming text that snaps and cackles and begs to be read aloud. Michael Slack's wacky illustrations (take a gander at Pauline's eye-lashed, egg-like eyes!) match the energy and excitement and kid-friendly humor that will have all the chickadees in your roost chuckling and clucking for more.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful illustrations, May 15, 2007

By 

S. Webb (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: My Life as a Chicken (Hardcover)

Although the story is good, the artwork is amazing. Beautifully done textures and colors. My sisters each bought a copy for their children and it is unanimous - thumbs up all around.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Favorite Children's Book of All Time, March 31, 2009

By 

Hilarie (Washington) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: My Life as a Chicken (Hardcover)

Perhaps no one appreciates an excellent picture book more than a parent who is forced to read it multiple times. That is why this book stands out, because even after countless reads I still find myself smiling right along with my toddler at the antics of this unfortunate poultry. This fabulous picture book details the adventures of Pauline Poulet, a brave chicken, as she struggles to save herself from becoming someone else's main course. The illustrations are beautiful, the writing is clever and catchy. I was very impressed by the authors ability to find just the perfect rhyme. My daughter especially loves to shout out "Pauline, Prevail!" along with the main character. I think this book is destined to become one of my gifts of choice for birthday parties of one or two year olds.