CHICKEN SCRATCHES

Sixteen verses, bouncy and “fowl.” True to its subtitle, this little green book offers a nice variety of nifty poems with cheeky pen illustrations, digitally colored. “Ballet Olé” is a limerick (“A chicken named Millicent Smites, / loved to twirl and leap to new heights...”), the super-short “Tug-o-Worm” suggests Ogden Nash (“One worm. / Two chicks. / Worm won. / Fiddlesticks!”) and a long two-page poem called “Time Traveler” tracks evolution from dinosaur to chicken (“My feathers, wings, and scaly feet / have ancient tales to tell / of Stegosaurus, Allosaurus, / locked inside each cell”). Additional verses deal with a newborn baby chick, a sick rooster, bug-eating and other poultry matters. The use of various fonts and typefaces adds a little extra zing. Menchin’s illustrations have a great time with the premise, positioning the chickens in various ridiculous poses against boldly colored backgrounds and dressing them for maximum comic effect. Both punny and snappy, an apt addition to National Poetry Month. (Picture book. 3-6)