Review: Happy acting like yourself
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 8, 2014
Author Christina Johnson and illustrator Amruta Y. Patel offer us a children's book about farms. Embedded in this entertaining tale are lessons in farm animals and what identifies them, as well as a final lesson in being grateful about who they are.Bob is a chicken who can only say `cluck, cluck'. He decides to try other way s of communicating and so he quacks when he sees a duck, oinks when he hears the pigs, but when he sees horses they neigh and tell him to go elsewhere. He continues his language lesson around cats who say meow, cows who say mooo, but in the end he is frustrated and tells his mom he is concerned he can only cluck. His mother reinforces his ego by praising his feathers and wings and the fact the humans depend on chickens to lay eggs for food. Bob gets the message  - that being a chicken who says cluck is special and he proudly associates with his farm friends who each have a limited vocabulary, too.Aside from the fact that the story is fun to read, humorous, and well illustrated, children learn more about farm animals as well as a fine lesson on being proud of who they are - just the way they are! Grady Harp, April 14