  | Full Text Reviews: School Library Journal - 07/01/2011 PreS-Gr 1—This sequel to The Chicken Thief (Enchanted Lion, 2010) finds Fox and Hen happily living together. Their household now includes an egg and a feisty little crab. The story begins when Hen, joined by Crab, leaves her egg in Fox's care and sets out with a fishing pole to catch some dinner. Her plans are foiled when the fish at the end of her line is carried off by an enormous eagle, and from there on, it's a goofily harrowing but ultimately satisfying ride for most of the characters in this wordless story. Rodriguez skillfully uses the format of wide, short pages to create dynamic scenes with a cinematic sense of movement. Her line work is wonderful, somehow seeming sketchy and refined at the same time, and the expressions on the animals' faces add subtle touches of humor. Kids will love this funny and exciting story.—Lauralyn Persson, Wilmette Public Library, IL - Copyright 2011 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Bulletin for the Center... - 09/01/2011 In this wordless picture book, the refrigerator’s offerings are a little sparse in Hen and Fox’s tree-trunk abode, so Hen leaves the comfort of her rocker, entrusts the egg she’s been tending to Fox, and takes up her fishing pole to score some dinner. Accompanied by a little red crab (who’s strangely untroubled by the prospect of a seafood dinner), Hen hooks a fat green fish, only to have it promptly caught up in the talons of an eagle, who swoops fish, Hen, and crab off to its eaglets’ nest. The squawky eaglets toss the intruders out, and they land in the sea where they’re chased by a ferocious, eel-like sea monster who takes them for a Nantucket sleigh ride until Hen gains control of the fishing-line reins and rides the monster onto shore. Hen triumphantly returns home and finds her egg cracked and lying beside a frying pan. Suspecting the worst, she prepares to bean Fox, only to discover that he’s in the rocker tending her hatchling, and they can all celebrate with flutes of bubbly and a feast of fish and sea monster, roasted on a very long spit on the beach by starlight. This is nonstop action fun, touched with cartoon-type humor and revolving appealingly around food. The long lines of the horizontal trim allow Rodriguez to pack a lot of visual activity into each full-bleed spread-sometimes a series of actions, and sometimes a broad panorama. Slightly dusty shades of sea green, grayish blue, and rusty orange make for a sophisticated palette that will attract viewers who may think themselves immune to the charms of a wordless story. Rooster’s Revenge is promised to follow hot on Fox and Hen’s heels; fans will be ready and waiting. EB - Copyright 2011 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. Loading...
 |