Little Chicken's Big Day

Bold, confident visual storytelling characterizes this story of a parent-child relationship by film producer Jerry Davis and his wife, Katie (Kindergarten Rocks!). The first spread shows Big Chicken's enormous hand pushing the door of Little Chicken's bedroom open. "Rise 'n' shine!" she says to Little Chicken, whose bed is egg-shaped. "Wash your face!" she continues on the spread that shows a huge index finger wagging. "Brush your teeth! Get dressed!" "I hear you cluckin', big chicken," says Little Chicken meekly, dwarfed by its mother. She's got Betty Boop high heels and a handbag—'40s nostalgia—and she drags him out the door: "Follow me!" Despite her nagging, Little Chicken is very glad to see his Mama when he gets distracted by a butterfly and loses her. The text is sparse and the line drawings stripped down; the momentum comes from shots that play with proportion and perspective, and from the warmth and comfort that emanates from Big Chicken's huge body. "I love you, Mama," says Little Chicken, safe in bed, to which she replies, "I hear you cluckin', Little Chicken." Ages 1–4. (Apr.)