The Chicken Thief

The Chicken Thief
Writing and art by Beatrice Rodriguez
Publisher: Gecko Press

What's it about?
This is sold as a wordless book where children can invent their narratives to go along with the illustrations.  It's really a comic - sequential art where the entire double page is given over to the art, and there are no narrative boxes, speech bubbles, or sound effects.

It's only about 10 pages long and is pretty simple - fox grabs chicken and runs off, chicken's friends follow in hot pursuit through forest, sea and sand.  There is a twist at the end!


What's good about it and what's the art like?
It's an easily understood story - the illustrations are clear as anything and there's a lot of detail for kids to look at.  I bought this for a 2 year old, and both she and her 5 year old sister like it.

There's a feeling of fun to the story, and a lot of richness to the artwork.  Look at the expressions and body language of the bear and the chickens!  It's short enough to be read as a bedtime story and it's a great way of getting young kids to understand the visual narrative.  All the adults I showed this to enjoyed it.  It's charming.

I'm listing it as a comedy and a drama because I think toddlers and their slightly older counterparts will find it pretty dramatic, even if adults know there is little danger!

What's bad about it?
There's nothing bad here!

More information
Price: £7.99 for the hardback - there is a paperback available as well.
ISBN: 1877467316
There's a look inside function on the amazon listing, but beware it may give away a lot of the book!
The listing gives suggestions for other books by the same author and you'll be delighted to hear that there are sequels to this story.  Have a browse through to see what you like.