THE FEATHERLESS CHICKEN

A featherless chicken rejected by his fashionable fellows finds a way to puncture their vanity in this clumsy but well-meaning effort. Born naked and with allergies to boot, the chicken is sad when four others decked out in plumes, fancy headgear and, in one case, decorative letters and numbers, refuse to take him boating. Their attitude changes when he acquires finery of his own, becoming coated with leaves, papers and, rather oddly, a dinner fork after falling into some sticky mud. He changes again when his sneeze dumps them all in the water, and they emerge as bare as he. Laughing together, they strut off into the forest, planning the next day’s outing. The uneven typewriter font chosen for the text gives the pages an amateurish look, and children will be confused by Chen’s spattery, scribbly paintings, as his chickens are all visibly well-feathered. Still, the author allows readers to figure out the point for themselves, rather than hammering them over the head with it. (Picture book. 6-8)