Description:
Henny Penny's sky-is-falling tale has been retold often enough that few probably even remember its source material--but that doesn't stop another retread, this one surprisingly conservative in its story-telling liberties, by Margie Palatini (The Web Files) and dignified illustrator Barry Moser. Little Chucky Ducky was just drying off from a swim when he "heard the ground grumble. He felt the ground rumble. And then, with a stumble, Chucky Ducky went down in a tumble!" With that, Chucky Ducky takes off: "'Why, it's a quake!' he quacked. 'I have to warn my friends!'" So then Lucy Goosey, Brewster Rooster, Vickie, Nickie, and Rickie Chickie, et al., receive frantic and noisy warning. Eventually, a "wormy weasel"--a "sneaky," "very hungry," and "lying, conniving, wily" weasel--steps in to take advantage, cleverly disguised as Herman Ermine. Will the fowl and their farmyard friends find the true source of the seismic surprise before they end up as "one big banquet buffet"? For sure, the wacky Palatini does better with less restraint, and when she's teamed with an illustrator less precise than Moser (of the Pennyroyal Caxton Press edition of The Holy Bible). But surely Earthquack! is what it is, and accomplishes its goals with sufficient poise and skill. (Ages 4 to 8) --Paul Hughes
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