Extraordinary Warren: A Super Chicken

by Sarah Dillard, Sarah Dillard (Illustrator)

Overview

Boys and girls will flock to Warren, a quirky chicken who wants to find his inner greatness.

Warren, a bespectacled chicken, is bored with the everyday chicken routine: peck, cluck, feed; peck, cluck, feed. Same old, same old. There must be more to life, no? And there must be more to Warren. He leaves the farm to discover what makes him special—and with the help of an unhatched egg and a snarky, hungry rat, he just might get some answers.

Filled with simple text, speech balloons, and engaging illustrations, this easy-to-follow story is a blend between a picture book and a chapter book, making it an ideal bridge for independent readers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442453401
Publisher:	Aladdin
Publication date:	02/11/2014
Series:	PIX
Pages:	64
Product dimensions:	6.70(w) x 8.70(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	GN510L (what's this?)
Age Range:	6 - 9 Years

About the Author

Sarah Dillard studied art at Wheaton College and illustration at Rhode Island School of Design. She lives with her husband in Waitsfield, Vermont.

Sarah Dillard studied art at Wheaton College and illustration at Rhode Island School of Design. She lives with her husband in Waitsfield, Vermont.

Editorial Reviews

11/25/2013
Warren, the self-important chicken of the title, doesn’t realize that Millard the rat is flattering him because he’s considering eating Warren for dinner. “I think I might be a special chicken!” Warren confides. Millard gushes right back: “It is possible you could even be... Chicken Supreme!” Fortunately, Warren spots Millard’s cookbook, 1001 Recipes for Chicken, and when he discovers that Millard has plans for the rest of the flock, he gets to be the superhero he’s always dreamed of being. Dillard (Perfectly Arugula) has a solid grasp of the possibilities of sequential art, drawing panels that break up physical processes like learning to fly (where Warren runs into some trouble) and following Warren as he trudges over a hill, ruminating about his failure to warn the flock. Warren’s sidekick, an egg who eventually hatches, is the story’s sweetest surprise: “Is this farm the whole world or is there more?” the chick asks. “Did you know that I’d be so yellow and fuzzy?” A good-humored story that nicely blends picture book, chapter book, and graphic novel elements. Ages 6–9. Agent: Lori Nowicki, Painted Words. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

2013-12-01
This is a story that keeps interrupting itself. A few pages into the comic, the narration is drowned out by sound effects. A flock of chicks keeps squawking for two pages straight. It happens right in the middle of a sentence: "They pecked all day long. EVERY SINGLE DAY. It drove Warren…Peep! Peck! Peck! Peck! / CRAZY." (Eight nearly identical panels labeled Sunday through Sunday show four chicks peeping and pecking, as Warren looks on with increasing exasperation.) This is, presumably, supposed to be an amusing, postmodern device, but mostly it's just an annoyance. In fairness, it's supposed to be annoying. Warren hates the daily routine on the farm. He says, "I've had enough pecking and peeping….I am MORE than just an ORDINARY CHICKEN." Warren becomes a sort of poultry superhero, rescuing the others from Millard the rat, who has invited them all to a barbecue. Large sections of the plot may feel familiar. The book feels much like the film Chicken Run, for example. But the story isn't the point. The point is the jokes, which are terrible and brilliant in equal measure. When Warren bumps into an egg, he says, "OEUF!" The simple line drawings are charming. The text is a matter of taste. It will be a hit with fans of borscht-belt humor. Everyone else may be driven…CRAZY. (Graphic fiction. 6-9)

Kirkus Reviews