BEAKY BARNES

A human-sized chicken leads the residents of a tiny town on a wild hen chase in Caldecott Honor winner Stein’s pleasantly peculiar debut graphic novel.

A boring day in Simpleton goes haywire after a fried egg liberates itself from the sandwich of Inspector Cobb, the hamlet’s chief health and safety officer. Cobb races on his bicycle to the town cafe only to learn that there are no eggs today, which does nothing to improve his steadily souring mood. Closing up shop to avoid a surprise inspection (and have his many pets and elephant fry cook discovered), the chef rushes out to the mini-mart only to find the egg shortage is townwide. All seems lost until an enormous chicken, the titular Beaky Barnes, crosses the road with her friend the Inventor to get to the cafe on the other side. Giddy with egg-citement, the chef hustles back to greet the gals, grab their orders, and hopefully somehow get an egg in the end. What follows is truly a madcap adventure connecting a trumpet-playing fish with collegiate dreams, an elephant with a broken heart and a squished bike, a rooster acting his heart out, and, yes, even an egg, all woven together in a brilliant, bizarre ballet that is equal parts goofy and genius. Stein’s instantly recognizable illustrations, rendered in ballpoint pen and digitally enhanced watercolor, are alive with color and action, bringing this dramedy to its satisfying conclusion. Readers will be pleased to know this is not the last they’ll see of Beaky Barnes. Human characters are light-skinned.

Pure egg-cellence.