Chicks Run Wild

by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen, Ward Jenkins (Illustrator)

Overview

When Mama Chick kisses her kids goodnight, she expects them to stay in bed, but those chicks...run...wild! They jump around and do cartwheels, until Mama comes in and says "You're all in trouble. But when she turns out the lights...they start a pillow fight! Finally, Mama gets them settled, but she's not ready for bed either!

Sudipta Bardhan's playful ryhme and not-quite-ready for bedtime attitude and Ward Jenkins' exuberant artwork will delight both parents and kids!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442406735
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Publication date:	01/25/2011
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	11.10(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD530L (what's this?)
Age Range:	2 - 6 Years

About the Author

Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen has written many picture books including Chicks Run Wild, illustrated by Ward Jenkins; Tightrope Poppy, The High-Wire Pig, illustrated by Sarah Dillard; Duck, Duck, Moose!, illustrated by Noah Z. Jones; and Rutabaga Boo!, illustrated by Bonnie Adamson. She lives in New Jersey with her three children. Learn more about Sudipta and her books at Sudipta.com.

Ward Jenkins is and illustrator and animator from Atlanta, Georgia. He’s illustrated several picture books, including Chicks Run Wild, as well as the Good Crooks chapter book series. Ward lives with his wife and two kids and hasn’t shaved his beard since 2010. Find him online at @WardOMatic.

Editorial Reviews

The toddler chicks in this rowdy bedtime book think a good time consists of jumping on the bed, pillow fights, and cartwheels once their Mama closes the bedroom door. Each time Mama discovers the chicks' shenanigans, she settles them down and gives them "One more kiss for each dear child," but it's never long before they are back at it again. Jenkins's rambunctious, roly-poly chicks resemble fuzzy yellow Easter eggs, differentiated by patterned pajamas, a hair bow, and some Harry Potter glasses; all five chicks exude mischief when pretending to sleep, glee when misbehaving, and alarm when Mama finds them out. It's a great concept, though lumbering verse ("They begin a pillow fight/ in the middle of the night./ As the feathers fill the air.../ they see Mama standing there!") deflates some of the excitement. Luckily, Jenkins's artwork has enthusiasm to spare, and he has great fun with the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" ending that has the tired chicks begging Mama to go to sleep and has Mama running wild herself: by painting her toenails and watching a TV romance. Ages 2–6. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

Jenkins's artwork has enthusiasm to spare, and he has great fun with the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" ending that has the tired chicks begging Mama to go to sleep and has Mama running wild herself: by painting her toenails and watching a TV romance.

—Publishers Weekly, November 1, 2010

Here is a bedtime story for all those tireless adults who would rather have their charges erupt from their beds to do a mad jig instead of peacefully drifting off to sleep. So make it a midday story, because it is a good bit of rollicking fun. . . . Jenkins takes the story at full throttle, too, with plenty of double-page spreads popping with energy and good cheer, and the characters are plain fun: The chicks look like they just stepped out of a chorus line of Peeps, while Mama might have been minted by the Looney Tune crowd. Her face when she catches the chicks faking sleep is a delight. - KIRKUS, November 15, 2010

The chicks are fluffy and appealing; Mama appears progressively more stern, as she looms larger in the doorway each time she must come back. Young listeners will quickly learn and want to repeat the refrain, set off in large type and curving above chicks jumping on the bed, somersaulting through the air, and whacking each other with pillows: “Those chicks run wild!” Grown-ups will enjoy the final scene, where “Mama runs wild,”painting her toenails red, having a cup of tea, and watching Gone with the Wing.
— Diane Foote
BOOKLIST, January 1, 2011

From the Publisher

PreS-Gr 2—Mama puts her five little chicks to bed, kisses them, and tucks them in. But once she leaves, it's party time. The noise from cartwheels and somersaults brings her back to warn her brood sternly that it's time to go back to bed. But once she closes the door, they're wreaking havoc in a pillow fight. This time Mama decides, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, and in the process she outfoxes her youngsters and tires them out. Finally, she gets some serious "me" time and settles down in the living room to give herself a pedicure while surrounded by books, movies, and a cup of tea. The text in this short rhyming story gets singsongy at times, but the pencil and digitally painted illustrations carry the folksy tale in an able fashion. An entertaining selection for bedtime, the book will also combine well in presentations with other funny chicken stories, such as Janet Morgan Stoeke's "Minerva Louise" series (Dutton).—Roxanne Burg, Orange County Public Library, CA

School Library Journal

Here is a bedtime story for all those tireless adults who would rather have their charges erupt from their beds to do a mad jig instead of peacefully drifting off to sleep. So make it a midday story, because it is a good bit of rollicking fun. Five chicks are safely tucked in bed, "beneath the sheets. / 'Go to sleep now,' Mama tweets. / Mama kisses each dear child, / but when she leaves.../those chicks run wild!" The pleasant-enough, rhymed text is nothing out of the ordinary, but it admirably does the job of gathering momentum—the gentle revving of its engine, the shift up to cruising speed, then the pedal to the metal. Jenkins takes the story at full throttle, too, with plenty of double-page spreads popping with energy and good cheer, and the characters are plain fun: The chicks look like they just stepped out of a chorus line of Peeps, while Mama might have been minted by the Looney Tune crowd. Her face when she catches the chicks faking sleep is a delight. Like a shot of caffeine between covers, it makes for a bracing read-aloud. (Picture book. 2-5)

Kirkus Reviews