Cheerful Chick

September 15, 2018
A cheerleading chick can't rouse enthusiasm among her farmyard pals. Sis-boom-NAH!Leaving behind 11 siblings in their shells, a newly hatched chick springs from her egg, brandishing pompoms and wearing cheerleaders' gear--pleated skirt and sweater emblazoned with the varsity letter "C." Not only does Chick strut fancy moves while yay-ing noisily all day, she also tries to persuade other animals to form a squad to root for the (literal) farm team. Nope. The yolk's on them: After lapsing into a brief funk, the yellow fluffster decides who needs 'em and resolves to create a one-chick team. Guess who shows up: Unbeknownst to Chick (though sharp-eyed readers will have observed it in the artwork all along), her brothers and sisters have hatched, donned their own cheerleader uniforms (that just happened to have arrived in the mail), and have come to join her, while the erstwhile neigh (and oink, moo, and baa) sayers cheer from the sidelines. This is, fittingly, a cheery romp, narrated in bouncy verse that reads and scans well, though the underlying theme may not resonate. Why are chicks so gung-ho about cheerleading? Are many kids among the target audience even familiar with cheerleading and its conventions? The digitally rendered illustrations, mixed with paints and pencil, are lively and energetic, and animals' faces are expressive. Cheerleading calls are incorporated into the text in display type.If not a big somersault, this is a playful bit of fun. (Picture book. 4-7)

COPYRIGHT(2018) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

November 15, 2018
Preschool-G Brockenbrough puts a fun twist on The Little Red Hen fable here, highlighting persistence (in the form of an enthusiastic chick), but ending in communal celebration, not scolding. Cheerful Chick hatches earlier than her siblings, bouncing out of her shell in full cheerleader costume, complete with star-like pompoms. First, she perfects her moves, detailed in hilarious illustrations of her stretching, doing side splits, and shaking her feathers. Chick's mission is to form her own cheerleading squad. She approaches a pig, the cows, the sheep, and the horses, all of whom turn her down. After all this rejection, Chick almost becomes chicken-hearted, but she resolves to do one last, perfect routine (seen in two rollicking pages of nine panels each). Her siblings, now hatched and in their own costumes, join the cheers, as do all the farm animals. The rhyming text and the digital illustrations, mixed with paint textures and pencil drawings, keep things moving nicely. And the lesson Chick learns?that dreams can come true?represents a great payoff for persistence.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

December 21, 2018

PreS-Gr 1-Chick is a natural-born cheerleader. She hatches out of her egg waving pompoms, ready to inspire others with her moves and her words. But to realize her dream, she must ignore all naysayers. Her persistence leads to her dreams coming true; not just for herself, but for the other animals on the farm who want to be cheerful, too. Brockenbrough's cheerleading chicks are male and female. Their feathers range in color from beige to brown. They wear 1950s-style outfits and speak in rhyme. Won uses spreads to emphasize the size contrast between the chicks and the bigger farm animals (pig, horse, cow), and to showcase Chick utilizing the whole farmyard as a gymnasium. VERDICT A funny story about realizing one's dreams and accepting other's natural talents.-Tanya Boudreau, Cold Lake Public Library, Alta.