December 1, 2022
Chirpy the chick stows away on the school bus with a new feathered friend to learn about pizza...and, oh yes, arithmetic. Though she avoids the attention of the racially diverse (and surprisingly oblivious) class, Chirpy sees addition, counting tally marks by groups, and fractions demonstrated before the children race out to recess, leaving 10 delectable pizza scraps for her to divide with her relentlessly curious companion Quackers the duckling. Some of that arithmetic comes in handy later when Chirpy heroically faces down Clucky, a bully who has been hogging the feeder, to show her awed fellow chicks how to divide the feed into equal piles so that everyone gets a fair share. Krulik loads her 10 easily digestible chapters with puns and jokes as well as nuggets of learning and caps the episode with a recipe for pizza muffins. Alder's illustrations, monochrome with yellow highlights, feature a table showing different styles of tally marks commonly used in various parts of the world as well as images of cute chicks (and duckies). Chirpy is distinguished from the other nestlings by her rallying cry--"Chirp chirp cha-ree!"--and the bow on her head decorated in mathematical symbols. STEM-ware, barnyard style, with a bit of math-odical problem-solving. (cast profiles) (Animal fiction. 7-9)
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January 27, 2023
Gr 1-3-In this series sequel, Chirpy's fellow chicks start disagreeing over food, and they ask Chirpy to use her superpowers to solve their problem. With no idea how to do so, Chirpy escapes the other chicks and heads out on a magical adventure. Along the way, she makes a new friend, Quackers, who isn't good at understanding synonyms. Together, they head to school, where all great learning happens! There they learn about fractions, pizza, the importance of books, and tally marks. Can they figure out a way to use their new knowledge to solve Chirpy's problem? The characters and plot are a little simplistic, but work as an early chapter book. Krulik succeeds at keeping the math component present without overwhelming the story. The abundant wordplay, and chicken and egg puns throughout the book are amusing and help bring the plot to life. Readers will enjoy Quackers's lack of real-world understanding. Illustrations are colorful, enjoyable, and complement the text well. Characters are primarily animals, but the depictions school children are diverse. Though it's the second in the series, this title can be read independently. VERDICT An enjoyable early chapter book that will appeal to the author's fans and Doreen Cronin's chicken books. Recommended as an additional library purchase.-Kira Moody
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