Armadilly Chili
PreSchool-Grade 2-When the winds of a Texas "blue norther" bend cactuses to the curves of the desert hills, Miss Billie Armadilly decides to make a pot of chili. Modeled after the Little Red Hen, the task-focused armadillo asks for assistance from Tex the tarantula, Mackie the bluebird, and Taffy the horned toad, but all three are too busy to help. Ever resourceful, Miss Billie single-handedly gathers a bunch of beetles, picks a peck of peppers, chops up prickly pear cactus, and cooks up her specialty. That evening, her hungry pals ask for a taste, but she tells them, "No workin' with Billie, no sharin' the chili!" However, when the proud and somewhat angry armadillo sits down to eat, she sadly discovers one precious ingredient missing from the concoction-the love of her friends. Terry's vibrant cartoon artwork adds personality to Billie and her large-eyed companions. Done in jewel tones, the scenes depict the warmth of the desert landscape as well as that of the creatures' friendship. The rhythmic text reads aloud well and the dialogue has a western flavor. Pair this variant of the classic story with Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel's Cook-a-Doodle-Doo! (Harcourt, 1999) to spark a discussion of colorful characters in traditional tales.Mary Elam, Forman Elementary School, Plano, TXCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.