I Got a Chicken for My Birthday

by Laura Gehl, Sarah Horne (Illustrator)

Overview

All the birthday girl wants from her Abuela is a ticket to the amusement park. Instead, she gets a chicken. But this chicken is no ordinary chicken; it has plans! With a lot of hard work, and help from other animals, this chicken may just end up granting the girl the best birthday gift ever.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781541517240
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	03/01/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
Lexile:	AD320L (what's this?)
File size:	35 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Sarah Horne grew up in snowy Derbyshire, UK, with some goats and a brother. She then decided to be sensible and studied illustration at Falmouth College of Arts and earned a Masters degree at Kingston University. Sarah has written and/or illustrated numerous books for children and has also worked on commissions for The Guardian, The Sunday Times, Kew Gardens, Sesame Street, and for IKEA as their Children's Illustrator In Residence. She now draws, paints, writes, and giggles from underneath a pile of paper at her studio in London.
Laura Gehl received her B.A. from Yale University and a PhD in neuroscience from Georgetown University. She is Senior Editor of the award-winning educational periodical Science Weekly. Laura’s best ideas come from her four young children. Her books include One Big Pair of Underwear and And Then Another Sheep Turned Up. She lives in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Editorial Reviews

01/15/2018
Though Ana had asked her Abuela Lola for amusement park tickets for her birthday, she receives a chicken instead. Disappointed but good-natured, Ana reasons that the fowl is a better gift than socks or underwear—and she does like scrambled eggs. But her chicken has other plans in mind: after making a long and eclectic shopping list (items include a cement mixer, fireworks, and 85 rubber ducks), the chicken recruits Ana’s pets to help with a secret construction project. Gehl’s matter-of-fact narration, built around repetition of the title, offers a dry contrast to the outlandish goings-on. The chicken, who communicates solely via written placards, eventually directs Ana to send for her Abuela, who arrives via bulldozer to help reveal the amusement park that the chicken has built. Filled with splashy colors and textures, Horne’s mixed-media pictures playfully fiddle with perspective and scale while including details that step up the fun: the seats on the roller-coaster are giant eggshells, and Abuela Lola rocks a purple updo. An oddball birthday tale with heart. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Erzsi Deàk, Hen & Ink Literary Studio. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

"[T]his utterly seamless blend of story and art is an ingenious treat for all ages."—starred, Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

04/01/2018
PreS-Gr 2—This silly story starts with an unexpected birthday gift. A young girl with jet black braids is hoping for a trip to the amusement park but instead of satisfying her request, Abuela Lola sends a chicken. Despite her visible disappointment, the girl tries to make the best of the situation. But the chicken shows little interest in egg laying and things start to get strange when the chicken presents the girl with a long shopping list and enlists her other pets in a mysterious construction project. By the end of the story, it becomes clear that the girl's birthday gift is much more than a strange new pet. The text is simple with the phrase, "I got a chicken for my birthday" repeated throughout will encourage child participation. Colorful and energetic pen-and-ink illustrations pair well with the humorous story. VERDICT Kids will enjoy pointing out the details that provide visual clues as to what the chicken is up to. An amusing story with a twist, perfect for a maker or construction storytime.—Kimberly Tolson, Millis Public Library, MA

School Library Journal

★ 2017-12-21
What's wrong with Abuela Lola? Our birthday girl asked her three times for amusement-park tickets, and you know what? Abuela sent her a take-charge chicken styling yellow construction boots instead!If that isn't bad enough, the tool-belt-wearing denizen of the barnyard has subverted all the pigtailed Latina's pets. Not a one has time for cake, no one wants to play, and everyone is ignoring the aggrieved narrator. To make matters worse, the chicken (via imperative-clause picket signs) demands that Abuela travel posthaste to the child's backyard. Dogs wearing hard hats, birds hoisting girders, grandmas operating bulldozers—has the world gone mad? Gehl's sparsely worded wink to Anne Isabella Ritchie's evolving axiom, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for life," is made into a masterpiece by Horne's distinctive and humorously sly illustrations. The raucous colors pop against the wry, understated refrain, "I got a chicken for my birthday." Practically every clever detail begs to be the center of attention. Is the chicken's scrolled supply list with the sneakily embedded song lyrics the pièce de résistance, or is it the hamster powering the monstrous Ferris wheel? Visual puns compete with subtle tweaks to the funny bone, and each deserves to be savored in its own right.Either Horne was in Gehl's pocket or vice versa, because this utterly seamless blend of story and art is an ingenious treat for all ages. (Picture book. 3-8)

Kirkus Review