Chicken Dance
Grade 2–4—Taking off on television's popularAmerican Idolshow, Sauer's text poses a barnyard talent spree with winners getting two tickets to see the famed Elvis Poultry. In the past, the ducks have always aced the contest, but this year Lola and Marge, two determined chickens, set out to be the winners. Scenes of colorful acrobatics stunts, surfing maneuvers, and even cows jumping over the moon fill the pages, interspersed with funny vote-tallying images. At this point, however, the story stumbles in a bit of confusion. The cows are awarded a 10, flatten the ducks, and receive the winning tickets, while Lola and Marge, who "bawked and flapped and shook all over the stage," get 8.5 and are invited by Elvis to dance in his next show. Santat's illustrations, created in acrylic and ink with Adobe Photoshop, provide silly animal faces in sync with the crazy gyrations of the barnyard beasts' performances. Type is scattered across the page adding to the feeling of the tale's mayhem. Children may not get the Elvis connection, but librarians with plentiful budgets may find the book's contest angle worthy of purchase.—Barbara Elleman, Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, Amherst, MAEND