Your feathered champion will be right there, encouraging you all the way, with a loud “WOO HOO!” that’ll keep you going and remove any doubt you’re super terrific. What’s better than a cheerleading chicken?Īre you ever blue, unsure, tired, or overworked? Do you ever feel lost or overwhelmed? This uplifting book, expressed in delightful, jaunty verse, explains how to lift your spirits pronto: What you need is a booster chicken telling you’re doing great even when you’re not so confident, as when you’re learning or practicing a new skill, for instance.

Still, there’s much here for fans to appreciate after the long absence of a favorite author. A more straightforward storytelling style, which this author is known for, would better match the lovely pictures. But, while they were eating, the Naughty Cats came / And they soon turned the picnic into a game.” Alternate spreads feature text set in a rather scratchy type in wavy lines, offering some cues for reading aloud the sometimes-charmless writing, but the design element is too meager to enhance the story. Ruby mixed up lemonade and they drank it.

The story is sweet and one that small children will be able to relate to, although the rhyming couplets sometimes seem to force the plot: “ ‘Here’s a nice place for a picnic,’ said Blanket. The illustrations are vibrant and vividly rendered, especially the textiles. The cats continue to interfere with their play until Blanket, a toy horse, suggests letting them join their games. Her latest character, Ruby, a little mouse in a red, knitted sweater, is racing with her friends Blanket and Blue when three Naughty Cats get in the way and make them tumble. Since her debut in 1986 with Old Bear, Hissey has delighted children with her signature colored-pencil drawings that breathe life into stuffed animals.

Ruff jane hissey