PreSchool-Grade 1AFisher's jaunty watercolor cartoons make this beginning reader come alive. Miles uses basic vocabulary and repeated phrases to retell this favorite tale. Hit on the head by an apple from a tree, Chicken Licken thinks that the sky is falling. The flighty bird warns the other animals and they also overreact, huddling under Chicken Licken's vegetable stand for safety. The characters are cast as familiar members of the community: Henny Penny looks after her day-care charges, Ducky Lucky sells ice cream from a bicycle cart, Turkey Lurkey delivers the mail, and Goosey Loosey carries a ladder and paint. Children will chuckle as the fruit "bonks" each one on the head. Foxy Loxy finally arrives in his big yellow car to set them all straight. The tale ends with the animals anticipating apple pie. Everyone leaves satisfied, especially readers.ASuzanne Hawley, Laurel Oak Elementary School, Naples, FL
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
In this entry in the Ready-To-Read series, Miles retells a cumulative folktale in language that beginning readers can tackle. She opts for the rhyming versions of the characters' names: Chicken Licken, Ducky Lucky, Henny Penny, Goosey Loosey, Turkey Lurkey, and Foxy Loxy. Once Chicken Licken gets bonked on the head by a falling apple, the witless hysteria spreads right on cue, until Foxy Loxy heralds them with the real story. They decide to make an apple pie, and an apple pie song is included. It's a good bouncy story for early readers, with lots of repetition and simple rhyming for aid and encouragement. Fisher's illustrations turn the motley flock of well-meaning dimwits into quite a lovable bunch. (Picture book. 5-8) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
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