The Trouble with Chickens

Starred review from January 17, 2011
Cronin, best known for her witty barnyard picture books, Click, Clack, Moo and its successors, brings her droll humor to the chapter book set with great success. After seven years as a search-and-rescue dog, J.J. Tully (possibly a German shepherd) has been rewarded with retirement in the country. Though he puts on airs, recalling "a parade in my honor after I pulled three tornado victims out from under a mountain of debris," he grudgingly agrees to help a mother hen find her two missing chicks (in exchange for a cheeseburger). Behind his hard-boiled persona, J.J. has some genuine detective smarts, but he faces a formidable foe in Vince the Funnel, the "inside" dog, who looks "like a cross between a dachshund and a lamp" (he's wearing a cone-shaped collar due to an ear infection). Fast-paced and funny, with interesting vocabulary and a well-constructed plot, this is terrific fare for readers who are ready to move beyond picture books, but are intimidated by longer works. Cornell's pencil drawings have a mix of energy and humor that adds to the fun. Ages 8–12.

Retired search and rescue dog Jonathan Joseph Tully, aka J.J., is enlisted by a distraught chicken to find her missing chicks. The promise of a cheeseburger seals the deal, and J.J. follows his nose right into the paws of Vince the Funnel (think vet's protective cone), who is bent on escaping a trip to the vet. Cronin is a master of tongue- in-cheek narrative, understatement, and one-line zingers. Vinnie Penna is well matched to this takeoff on vintage mysteries. He is clipped and tough as the veteran detective and superior and snide as Vince. He excels at delivering the one-liners--"life outside the shell not all it is cracked up to be"--in the deadest of deadpan. As mother Mooch, chick Sugar, and determined little Dirt, he shines. Penna uses pauses and speed to heighten the suspense, and jazzy music provides just the right background. A.R. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine