Customer Reviews

The Silly Chicken

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I've seen some of Jeff Jackson's fantastic animation work, and I'm thrilled to see that his illustration work is just as great! This book is a must-buy!

[....] It's clear that we need to provide our kids - especially boys - with tools to counter the violence and knee-jerk aggression ubiquitous in popular culture. These children's stories by Idries Shah are just this kind of tool. They're not preachy. They don't offer simplistic lessons or moral platitudes. They're more like exercises for "mental muscle groups" grossly underdeveloped in this culture: A strong sense of one's own value. Empathy. Flexibility in thinking and responding. Appreciating that not everyone is the same, not every outcome is predictable. Seeing that there are more than two sides to a situation. A sense that patience and perseverance can pay off, sometimes in unexpected ways. Not demanding easy answers. A sense that things are not always as they seem, that the viewpoint of "experts" - or even the whole community - is not always right. The experience of seeing something that even adults don't see, of creating clever solutions. The sense that taking positive action is possible and rewarding-even when one has to buck the tide. That help can come from where and when we least expect it. The sense that life has interesting "loose ends" for us to reflect on. And so much more. At least one of these books should be on every child's book shelf.

This is a wonderfully silly story -- silly enough to be entertaining to children -- but also insightful enough to remind adults of just how silly we often are.