From School Library Journal
PreSchool-K—A family of anthropomorphized chickens keeps running out of household staples. Mom tells everyone to put the needed items on the shopping list that's posted on the refrigerator, but they ignore the directive and just complain when supplies run out. Things get really bad: "It was boo-boo, no Band-Aid…wet baby, no diaper…macaroni, no cheese…peanut butter, no jelly." And then the toilet paper runs out. When Mom serves a "peanut butter and pickled grub on macaroni casserole," it is decided that everyone needs to pitch in and help. The situation improves, even as the family acknowledges that if things go awry again, they can always order a pizza. The chickens are depicted as stick figures with large round heads. The gouache illustrations are spare, with ink outlines and solid-colored backgrounds. An amusing cautionary tale for families everywhere.—
Ieva Bates, Ann Arbor District Library, MI Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Nothing frustrates this family of chickens like running out of their favorite grub—although, honestly, “pickled grubs” are among the smaller chickens’ least-favorite menu items. After running out of cereal, one chick recounts the irritating past week: on Monday they had pancakes but no syrup (ketchup makes a poor replacement); on Tuesday they had toothbrushes but no toothpaste (no matter that chickens lack teeth); and so on, until things get so out of control that there’s a—ahem—situation with the lack of toilet paper. The illustrations are clear and bright, with dot-eyed birdies peeking from colorful, abstract backgrounds. Thursday provides the biggest visual break, as Mom’s path through the grocery aisles is tracked with a dashed line. The rhythm of the story seems a bit off, and some parents may bristle at the traditional portrayal of the mom as food preparer; but it’s hard to resist this ode to that simple tool too few of us use: the shopping list. Preschool-Kindergarten. --Daniel Kraus
