Earthquack! - Hardcover

Palatini, Margie

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0689842805 ISBN 13: 9780689842801

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2002

Synopsis

They heard the ground grumble. Then they felt the ground rumble. And before they knew it, they were all taking a tumble!
"The earth is crumbling! The earth is crumbling! It's a quake!" quacked the duck.
In this inspired take on Henny Penny, who thought the sky was falling, Chucky Ducky, Lucy Goosey, and Vickie, Nickie, and Rickie Chickie spread the alarm that the earth is quaking. But just like Henny Penny, these concerned animals find that the cause of the crisis they fear is not what they expect at all.
Filled with clever wordplay, Margie Palatini's rollicking romp is given an added dimension through Barry Moser's dynamic and playful illustrations.

About this title

Review:

Henny Penny's sky-is-falling tale has been retold often enough that few probably even remember its source material--but that doesn't stop another retread, this one surprisingly conservative in its story-telling liberties, by Margie Palatini (The Web Files) and dignified illustrator Barry Moser.

Little Chucky Ducky was just drying off from a swim when he "heard the ground grumble. He felt the ground rumble. And then, with a stumble, Chucky Ducky went down in a tumble!" With that, Chucky Ducky takes off: "'Why, it's a quake!' he quacked. 'I have to warn my friends!'" So then Lucy Goosey, Brewster Rooster, Vickie, Nickie, and Rickie Chickie, et al., receive frantic and noisy warning. Eventually, a "wormy weasel"--a "sneaky," "very hungry," and "lying, conniving, wily" weasel--steps in to take advantage, cleverly disguised as Herman Ermine. Will the fowl and their farmyard friends find the true source of the seismic surprise before they end up as "one big banquet buffet"?

For sure, the wacky Palatini does better with less restraint, and when she's teamed with an illustrator less precise than Moser (of the Pennyroyal Caxton Press edition of The Holy Bible). But surely Earthquack! is what it is, and accomplishes its goals with sufficient poise and skill. (Ages 4 to 8) --Paul Hughes

About the Author:

Margie Palatini is the author of many celebrated children's books, including Lousy Rotten Stinkin' Grapes, The Three Silly Billies and Earthquack!, all illustrated by Barry Moser, as well as Sweet Tooth and Bedhead, both illustrated by Jack E. Davis. She lives with her family in New Jersey. Visit Margie at margiepalatini.com.

Barry Moser has won numerous accolades for his work, including the prestigious National Book Award for Design and Illustration and the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award. He is both an author and an artist, whose illustrations can be seen in books ranging from Voices of Ancient Egypt by Kay Winters to Hummingbird Nest: A Journal of Poems by Kristine O'Connell George. Barry Moser's work is represented in collections throughout the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the British Museum, and the Library of Congress. He lives in western Massachusetts.

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0689842805
• ISBN 13: 9780689842801
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Moser Barry