Funky Chicken Chooks in Space

This rhyming children's picture book, written by Chris Collin and beautifully illustrated by Megan Kitchin, will delight children and adults alike. Funky Chicken: Chooks in Space is the second book in the Funky Chicken series; following the hilarious best-selling Funky Chicken: A Bushy Tale of Crocs and Chooks.

The story takes the reader on an epic adventure into space in Funky Chicken's rocket ship; hand-made by the chicken and his farmyard friends out of old recycled junk! His mission? An intergalactic search of the Milky Way, in search of extra-terrestrial chickens! As we join the chicken in his wild ride in his rickety rocket, we'll meet strange creatures on even stranger planets, culminating with a gentle message about the importance of family and friends.

This title comes with a QR coded link on the cover where you can download for FREE, audio and video files of the book and song, performed by the author, to an amazing musical composition created especially for this book.

Funky Chicken: Chooks in Space was voted WINNER in the 2016 Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Awards and is in the 2017 Queensland (Australia) and Victoria (Australia) Premier's Reading Challenge book list.

Reviews:

'Funky Chicken rockets into space in a whacky planet-hopping new adventure.

Absurd and clever! Brilliant in text and illustration'

(Anastasia Gonis, 'Kids Book Review')

A fantastically fun, funky book! This absurd tale will engage adults and children alike with characters that are wonderfully silly and appealing. The rhyming format encourages children to develop chronological awareness, and the planet names require non-word decoding. Underlying this fun story is the issue of 'what makes a good place to live; which can be the starting point for further discussion with young readers. The strong narrative also brings along themes of identity and belonging, and about having ambition and chasing your dreams. Colourful illustrations support and extend the text, and end page illustrations provide further opportunities for prediction and discussion.

- Speech Pathology Australia, WINNER 2016 Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Awards.

Chris Collin is an award-winning author, based on the Sunshine Coast in South East Queensland. And managing director of Funkybooks Pty Ltd, a company he created for the purpose of publishing and promoting his whacky, rhyming Children's books; all of which have received critical acclaim, particularly within the education sector. Chris has a very simple philosophy; to encourage a passion for reading in young children through fun and funkiness! "As a society, we are becoming more and more aware of the powerful connection between books and early childhood development. So it's a very exciting time to be involved in children's literacy! We have so many options now available for children and families to access quality literature for children. You only have to visit the local library to see the huge range of reading resources and fun programs and events to see this. I fundamentally believe that creating fun and funky books for children (and their adults!), provides a powerful platform for families to foster a love of reading for their children. In so doing, they are not only enjoying quality time as a family, but also creating the building blocks for their children's future appreciation of the wonderful world of books!" This recent review from Speech Pathology Australia, around his award winning book Funky Chicken: Chooks in Space, sums up Chris' philosophy. - A fantastically fun, funky book! This absurd tale will engage adults and children alike with characters that are wonderfully silly and appealing. Chris' first book Funky Chicken: A Bushy Tale of Crocs and Chooks was released in March 2013. This title was shortlisted for the 2014 Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Awards and is in the Premiers Reading Challenge book list in Queensland, NSW and Victoria. This title is also listed as a text in the Australian Curriculum (Qld C2C Year 3, Unit 7 -Poetry). His second book A Bug Called Doug was released in March 2013. This title is in the Qld Premiers Reading Challenge book list and was long listed in the 2015-16 ISLN (International School Library Network, Singapore) Red Dot Awards. Chris' latest title Funky Chicken: Chooks in Space, the second in the Funky Chicken series was released in August 2015 and was the winner in the 2016 Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Awards. With it's many cross-curriculum applications, this book is widely used in schools and early learning centres around Australia. Chris is a seasoned presenter and performs interactive author presentations and workshops to any age group in a range of formats. He has performed 100's of events at literary festivals, libraries, schools, early learning centres, special schools, business groups and community events. He has even provided diversional therapy sessions for aged care facilities. His role is to bring fun (and funkiness!) to the world through his books and highly engaging presentations, designed to encourage readers of all ages to 'read for the joy of reading!'

Megan Kitchin is an educator, mother and picture book illustrator (in her spare time!) Funky Chicken: Chooks in Space is the third collaboration of Megan and Chris Collin, having worked together on Chris' two previous books 'Funky Chicken: A Bushy Tale of Crocs' and Chooks and 'A Bug Called Doug'. These best-selling books highlight Megan's uncanny ability to bring Chris' quirky characters and situations to life and are a testament to the abilities of this extraordinary Australian illustrator.