Since Grant uses onomatopoeia such as 'shoo' and 'cluck' in her writing, I believe that this would be a great way for teachers to begin to show students figurative language at a young age. I loved the use of sound words and onomatopoeia such as 'Cluck' and 'shoo.' The use of different dialogue also engages the readers and makes them wonder what is going to happen next. I really enjoyed reading this book, the illustrations paired with the story assist in creating a visual of what is going on in the story so I would rate it as a 4 out 5. I think that this book would be a great read aloud or book for first graders to begin reading on their own. While the two children are planting pumpkins, a chicken comes and scratches in the dirt and says 'Cluck!' The students try to shoo the chicken away, but the chicken stays in the yard and watches as the children plant and grow their pumpkins. The review captures the sense of fun in the book, and also points out the presence of a boy of color in the story.Įarl and Pearl are growing pumpkins. Kirkus points out the 'familiar easy-to-decode and sight words,' and I concur that it's a 'notch better' than many beginning readers. Good for less-confident beginning readers or as a shared read. Chicken is delightfully insolent as she scratches the dirt and refuses to give up, as the text and illustrations both capture. The text is large and interspersed with many half-page illustrations and several double-page spreads. The cycle of planting and harvesting pumpkins adds a nice dimension to the story, as does Chicken's ultimate usefulness, despite Pearl and Earl's repeated attempts to 'Shoo!' her. With plenty of repetition and a surprisingly engaging story, this book lives up to the publisher's label of 'ideal for sharing with emergent readers.' A few challenging words are sprinkled throughout, but many pages are predictable and repetitive, while still carrying the story forwards. Pearl and Earl are trying to grow pumpkins, but Chicken keeps getting in their way - until Chicken proves useful in the garden in this book for emergent readers.

Cluck cluck moo book