Module 8: The Trouble With Chickens

Summary: J.J. Tully is a retired search and rescue dog who is trying to enjoy his retirement that is until some chickens show up asking for his help.  The mother chicken and her 2 chicks want J.J. to help them find their 2 siblings.  As J.J. and the chickens look for the clues of what happened to the other 2 chicks an adventure ensues complete with cages and books.  

APA Reference: Cronin, D. (20110. The trouble with chickens: a J.J. Tully mystery. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.

Impressions: First off the title! I don't like chickens as birds.  Now don't get me wrong a I would not turn down plate of fried chicken but I don't care for the live version so I had to see what was the trouble with chickens. This book was really cute and for me as a dog lover I of course fell in love with the main character J.J. This book is easy to read.  The descriptions that are given in the book are also so funny.  I love how J.J. describes the chicks as popcorn with legs.  I have a 7 year old boy and I am working on getting him to try some longer books.  I really think that this book would be a great introduction into something longer but still easy to read.  The chapters are short and manageable and the vocabulary would be simple for a beginning or even a struggling reader.  The pictures would even help the reader figure out what it happening in the story if the reader got stuck.  I pulled this book off the shelf of the elementary library that I will be working in this coming school year.  I know that without a doubt I will be ordering the other J.J. Tully books if we do not have them and that I will be recommending them every chance that I get.

Professional Review:

THE TROUBLE WITH CHICKENS

From the "J.J. Tully Mysteries" series, volume 1

by Doreen Cronin, illustrated by Kevin Cornell

Age Range: 8 - 11

Popular farmyard chronicler Cronin (Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type, illustrated by Betsy Lewin, 2000, etc.) makes the jump to middle-grade fiction in this faux–hard-boiled mystery featuring talking animals. Her deadpan humor is much in evidence as she describes the circumstances under which retired search-and-rescue dog J.J. Tully undertakes the case of the missing chick. Puns abound, and J.J. is definitely not quite as clever as he believes himself to be, allowing readers to gently laugh at as well as with him. Sophisticated vocabulary and a complicated plot suggest the older range of readers as the most likely audience, but frequent illustrations and a relatively large font should make the story accessible to the younger end as well. Cornell’s black-and-white drawings extend both the humor and the action. In some pictures J.J. is slightly reminiscent of Scooby-Doo, another canine sleuth, while in others he is both distinctive and dogged in his determination to solve the puzzle. The chickens, mother and four chicks, are seriously silly looking and utterly adorable, which suits their surprisingly rounded characters just right.  Finding out how “Vince the Funnel” fits in, whether J.J. is being double-crossed by his client and how the climactic rescue will be resolved should keep readers engaged while Cronin’s constant word-play will keep them giggling. Fast and funny. (Comic mystery. 8-11)

The trouble with chickens. (2011, February 17). Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/doreen-cronin/trouble-chickens/

Library Uses: This book would be an excellent introduction from easy books to chapter books.