A Hen for Izzy Pippik

January 30, 2012
“Times were tough,” writes Davis in his opening to this sharp-witted tale drawn from Jewish and Islamic sources. But when little Shaina comes across a beautiful chicken whose crate has apparently fallen off a truck, the girl doesn’t think poached eggs and fricassee, as her Grandpa and Mama do. Cut from the same cloth as True Grit’s Mattie Ross and bearing a comically striking resemblance to the hen, Shaina stubbornly believes she must protect the bird and its offspring until the putative owner, Izzy Pippik (the name on the busted crate) returns. Readers probably won’t doubt that Shaina will triumph, but Davis (Kishka for Koppel) and Lafrance (The Firehouse Light) don’t make life easy for their heroine; yes, Shaina stands her ground against a grumpy, impoverished town overrun with potential chicken dinners, but when one of her neighbors calls her a “hard-headed nuisance,” it’s a fair assessment. Lafrance deserves a special shout-out for her work—she proves once again that she’s a rare talent who can combine naïf rendering with a highly sophisticated and consistently inventive sense of composition. Ages 4–8.

February 15, 2012
When Shaina discovers an unusual hen sporting "emerald green feathers with golden speckles," she strives to find its rightful owner. Although her hungry family wants to make chicken soup, Shaina insists they restore the newfound hen to Izzy Pippik, who has left town. By the time he returns, the hen has given birth to a multiplying flock of chickens. The chickens have overrun the town, and people are mad, but then the merchants realize that the freely ranging chickens have brought prosperity back because everyone wants to visit. Shaina is overjoyed when Pippik shows up. She tries to return Yevka, the original hen, and the whole flock, but Izzy matches her honesty with his generosity by allowing all to stay. Shocked, Shaina tells him he can't. "If they're mine to have," he says, "they're mine to give," and the poverty-stricken townspeople have been saved by an upright girl and an altruistic gentleman. Retro, droll pencil illustrations colored in Photoshop show a European town in the 1930s. Shaina and Yevka echo each other as they walk along, with red bow and comb, black braid and tail feather bouncing in the breeze, green-and-white pinafore dress and feathers. Although no specific sources are stated, the author/storyteller has drawn upon Talmudic and Islamic folklore. Steadfast and quietly amusing, Shaina is a girl to admire. (Picture book. 5-8)

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May 1, 2012

K-Gr 5-Based on ancient Jewish and Islamic tales, and following on the heels of the recent retelling by Elka Weber in One Little Chicken (Tricycle, 2011), this is the story of a chicken lost and the honest girl who finds her. Shaina comes upon a hen near a broken crate marked Izzy Pippik Chickens and Eggs. Despite her family's hunger, she is determined to keep the hen for Izzy until he returns. Months pass, and generations of fowl are born, but Shaina will not let the townspeople eat the chickens or the eggs. The poor village's fortunes rise as it becomes a tourist spot known for its giant flock of lovely poultry, and the people panic when Izzy Pippik finally appears. Luckily, the kindly man gifts the flock to the town and all ends happily. This version is charmingly told with pleasing conversational patterns and alliteration. The Jewish flavor of the story comes through in the names of the townspeople, although their ethnicity is never stated explicitly. The colored pencil illustrations are striking with their clean lines, slightly surreal figures, and muted palette. The early-20th-century setting gives the book a folksy, old-fashioned feeling without pushing it completely into the world of long ago. While Shaina's hardheadedness may seem a bit difficult to fathom, the entertainingly told story and compelling illustrations will pull readers in. A good choice where folktales or character education stories are in demand.-Heidi Estrin, Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel, Boca Raton, FL

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2012
Grades K-2 When Shaina finds a lost hen, she resolves to become its caretaker in the owner's absence. Weeks pass, and Shaina will not allow the consumption of any of the hen's eggs or offspring, reasoning that if the hen belongs to Izzy Pippikas a broken roadside crate connotesthen the hen's progeny do as well. At first, Shaina's fellow townsfolk look upon the growing brood as a nuisance and wasted food. But as news of the chickens spreads, tourists come and swell the coffers of the local market, vindicating Shaina's stubbornness. When Mr. Pippik comes back through town, Shaina tries to return the henand is given a gift the whole town can celebrate. This folktale shares both Jewish and Islamic roots, although in this version, Shaina and her fellow characters are shtetl dwellers, depicted in Depression-era eastern European dress. Nicely paced text and colorful scratchboard-like images are beautifully connected, with the wandering chicks' paths drawn in loopy lines. This is a book to savor and reread, in the tradition of Margot Zemach's It Could Always Be Worse (1977).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2012
This tale inspired by Jewish and Islamic traditions tells the story of a hen that has fallen off Izzy Pippik's truck. Although all the townspeople want to eat the chicken and its offspring, honest and steadfast Shaina patiently protects them until Izzy's return. Lafrance's emotive characters reside in a world of fresh spring greens and blues, and young readers will enjoy searching for all the chickens.

(Copyright 2012 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)