Chickens! Chickens! - Hardcover

Porte, Barbara Ann; Henry, Greg

3.22

9 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0531068773 ISBN 13: 9780531068779

Publisher: Orchard Books, 1995

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A man who loves to draw chickens fortunately meets and marries a woman who not only appreciates his art, but also find a way to put it to good use.

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From Publishers Weekly:

Porte (When Grandma Almost Fell off the Mountain) and debut illustrator Henry team up for a high-spirited tale about a humble country artist whose unvarying subject is chickens. At home, people see so many chickens that they're not inclined to buy pictures of still more. He tries his fortune in the city, but continues to fill his paintings with fowl-chickens on elevators, chickens in taxicabs-and still finds no buyers. His lucky break comes when he meets and marries the owner of an art supplies store. Back on his farm, she is canny enough to pitch his chickens as "country style" art, and the painter becomes as successful in work as he is in love. Porte's energetic, conversational telling captures the simultaneous whimsy and force of the painter's singlemindedness ("Chickens, chickens, nothing but chickens"). At the same time she offers unstated lessons about the value of persistence as well as some deliciously funny moments ("Genuine folk art," cry the urbanities who once turned a blind eye to the poultry painter's oeuvre). Best of all are Henry's paintings, ranging from primitive street scenes with a multitude of shops, vehicles and pedestrians to innumerable silhouetted chickens in every posture and hue. Ages 4-7.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 1-3?Despite the brightly colored, quirkily appealing illustrations, this unusual picture book is unlikely to attract young readers. The fast-moving plot outlines the life of a single-minded artist: he paints only chickens. After meeting a woman in an art-supply store in the city and marrying her, he and his wife return to the country to settle down, have children, and raise chickens. The couple find little material success until the woman is inspired to market her husband's paintings and her own pillows, which are based on his designs and stuffed with chicken feathers, to friends and former customers, who receive them enthusiastically as "Genuine folk art." Porte's deadpan humor and brisk style are well suited to the energetic artwork and off-beat subject matter, but the focus of the book is on adult concerns. For a more child-centered look at art, consider Vera Williams's Cherries and Cherry Pits (Greenwillow, 1986). For a more amusing view of our feathered friends, try Paulette Bourgeois's Too Many Chickens! (Little, 1991) or Mary Jane Auch's Peeping Beauty (Holiday, 1993).?Lisa Dennis, The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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