The Missing Chick Book

Little chicks will be reassured when the town turns out for a search in this amusing, gently suspenseful tale with a sweet, satisfying ending.

One of Mother Hen’s little chicks is missing. Did they leave him in the house? Is he hiding in his bed? Under a bush? A frantic Mother Hen enlists the help of obliging neighbors, who search high and low but see no sign of the missing chick. Soon the firemen arrive, and a detective is on the case. But is the little chick really missing? Or did he just find a quiet place for a nap? With bright illustrations and comically expressive animal characters, Valeri Gorbachev tells a lighthearted, over-the-top tale of a little chick lost — and happily found.

Publishers Weekly

Although Gorbachev's (Turtle's Penguin Day) whimsical characters are more original than the accompanying text, children who worry about getting lost will find the ending to this simple story extremely satisfying. When the excitable Mrs. Duck points out that one of Mother Hen's seven chicks is gone, the entire neighborhood comes together to find it. Expert watercolor and pen drawings produce an amusing cast-uniformed police dogs, a detective cat, eager beaver firefighters and a plethora of folksy neighbors in overalls and layered skirts. The book's strength rests less in its plot than in the visual details that invite subsequent readings. On nearly every page, increasing numbers of professionals with sirens, flashlights, helicopters, ladders, vehicles and walkie-talkies swarm Mother Hen's house with stoic determination, in contrast to Mrs. Duck's laments ("It's awful, awful, awful!"). Mrs. Duck loudly runs amok until she finds the seventh chick sound asleep in the laundry. A parting image that shows a baby chick asleep in an apron hanging from the clothesline suggests that another search will begin soon. Ages 3-5. (Apr.)

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