Broadway Chicken

Author: Fromental, Jean-Luc

Brand: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Edition: First Edition

Number Of Pages: 40

Details: From Booklist Gr. 5^-8. Charlie, the dancing chicken, is discovered in an arcade by well-known theatrical agent Sam Z. Fowler, who is instrumental in Charlie's career. Charlie dances at a jazz club, stars in a Broadway musical revue, and becomes a Hollywood film star. However, he constantly worries about the public's perception of his slight limp and secretly has a successful operation to repair his "defect," but to everyone's dismay, especially his own, he can no longer dance. His stellar career is suddenly over. Chicken humor abounds in this well-crafted, expressive, oversize picture book for older readers. The soft, impressionistic paintings framed by white borders help set the nostalgic mood and carry out the sophisticated spoof (the picture of the "German director known for his strict standards and rotten temper" looks a lot like von Stroheim). The story ends on a moral note, but the well-known saying "Don't put all your eggs in one basket" also applies to this tale of success and failure, which was originally published in France. April Judge Product Description Charlie's career as a dancing chicken leads him from a New York City arcade to Hollywood fame and back again From Publishers Weekly Charlie the Dancing Chicken makes a dazzling debut, as does Fromental, in this droll hometown-bird-makes-good tale. A world-wise narration evocative of old movie voice-overs, combined with shadowed, grainy pastel illustrations (like slightly faded film stock), creates the impression that Charlie is starring as himself in an early Hollywood version of his lollapalooza of a life story. Charlie is discovered dancing for nickels in New York's Chinatown by Sam Z. Fowler?a theatrical agent with a cash register for a heart?and a comet-like career is born. Blazing through bohemian bars, in no time Charlie wows the Great White Way, earning the moniker Broadway Bantam. Movie stardom isn't far behind: Coop at the Top and Elmer Poultry are but two of his successes. "The world is my chicken coop," says Charlie. But once at the top, there's nowhere to go but down. Charlie, a chicken with pluck, survives the plummet and finds himself back in Chinatown, poorer but wiser. Seamlessly adapted from the French, the endless poultry-inspired wordplay alone is worth the price of admission. Although the clean-lined page design verges on the austere for such a showy tale, the oversize format suits this larger-than-life character. A tale to crow over. Ages 5-9. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. From School Library Journal Kindergarten-Grade 3-This rags-to-riches-to-rags story chronicles the career of Charlie, a dancing chicken with one leg slightly shorter than the other. As the star of the "Chicken Legs" revue, he begins living the life of Riley and is soon the toast of the town. Hollywood beckons and Charlie becomes a screen star, too. After a jealous comic sends his career plummeting, he undergoes corrective surgery on his legs, determined to salvage what he can in this way. But afterward, to his dismay, he can no longer dance creatively, and is no longer unique. Poor Charlie is forced to return to New York City's Lower East Side, where he spins stories of his past successes; lest the lesson be lost, he ends each story with a didactic poem: "...Learn to cultivate your flaws;/It's your defects that win applause." The full-page illustrations rendered in pastels employ a palette of golds, browns, reds, with blues and violets suggesting shadow and dark. The artwork and typeface are in an art-deco style. The balanced composition is striking, focusing on highlights of the plot. The fast-paced, clever text has sophisticated sentence structure and challenging vocabulary but is, however, rife with cliche and reads like a parody of a B-movie. The intended audience will probably not understand or appreciate the puns and allusions to actors or film titles ("Coop at the Top" and "Elmer Poultry"). Throughout the story, the author (and, necessarily, the

EAN: 9780786800612

Release Date: 16-10-1995

Languages: English

Item Note: Book is in very good condition! The dust jacket has light wear. The pages look great with minimal wear and no marks.

Item Condition: UsedVeryGood

Binding: hardcover