Written and Illustrated by Paul Schwartz
Chicken’s friends dearly want him to come over to the other side of the road where they are playing games, eating popsicles and clearly having a great time. Chicken wants to go but his parents are Nervous Nellies and counter his desire to cross the road with disastrous and funny responses; for example, this one which has a nod towards The Wizard of Oz, “Daddy chicken said, “ I heard that flying monkeys pick them up and carry them away.” Each page, painted with warm colors in an inviting folk style, clearly shows the Chicken’s expressions of yearning and the parent’s expressions of dismay. With each request, the parents up the disaster ante, until mid story sadly Chicken almost gives up. But thank you Paul Schwartz for putting in a plug for STEAM education, our Chicken shows he has grit and finds and then creates a great solution to how he can safely cross the road!!