Comical details and a creative collection of boldly hued patterns on clothing and walls animate Lin's (One for Me, One for You,
reviewed above) buoyant backdrops to a tale of a chicken who's a chicken when it comes to flying. When Olvina receives an invitation to the Bird Convention in Hawaii, she tells her pig friend Will that she can't go, since the journey entails flying over the ocean, "and chickens can't fly!" She dismisses Will's suggestion that she travel by airplane, yet after making a list of all the events she missed because she wouldn't fly, decides she will take her maiden plane trip after all. Lin humorously depicts some minor setbacks (she has to unpack her suitcase at the check-in counter to find her ticket and breaks out in a nervous sweat while watching the air safety video), but ultimately Olvina has a fine flight and becomes fast friends with her seatmate, a penguin also bound for the convention. Their fellow passengers provide some entertaining visuals: a monkey's carry-on luggage consists of a large bunch of bananas, and a mouse, buckled into a standard-size seatbelt, stores her tiny suitcase and hat in the overhead compartment. Perhaps the most diverting is the image of exhausted, backpack-wearing birds flying outside Olvina's airplane window, reinforcing the wisdom of her decision. This tale will engage youngsters while helping to dispel fears of flying. Ages 4-7. (Apr.)
