The title of this cornball book offers a clue that a wealth of puns will be contained within, and O’Malley (Slugs in Love
) doesn’t miss a trick. Just about every pun imaginable about corn or chickens can be found in this story about Chicken’s search for a buried treasure of cracked corn. When he tells his friend George about the great pink pig under which he believes the treasure is buried, George responds, “What are you—a comedi-hen?” George gets most of the book’s one-liners, but O’Malley’s watercolor and ink illustrations provide at least half of the fun. The expressions on the characters’ faces are priceless, as when Chicken and George unexcitedly wait for the stoplight to change as the narrator says, “How did the chickens cross the road? you ask. They crossed at the light.” Chicken dances across the book jacket with corncob Rockettes, and even the barnyard horse grins at his own silly joke. “I guess this trip was a waste,” says George. “Because it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.” O’Malley’s verbal hijinks and rib-tickling artwork will provide readers with “egg-stremely egg-ceptional” giggles. Ages 5-8. (Sept.)
