Purim Chicken

PreS-Gr 2—Cluck the chicken wants to play Queen Esther in the barnyard Purim play, but the role goes to Quack the duck. On the day before Purim, Quack is kidnapped by Fox. Cluck is "brave like Queen Esther," rescues Quack, and gets the starring role in the show after all. While this book, with its theme of a brave heroine, does loosely mirror the story of the Jewish holiday, Purim's history and customs are not explained in the text and there is no author's note, making this book most suitable for audiences already in the know. The naming scheme can be rather confusing; for instance, after Cluck and Quack return to the barnyard, "Quack quack, quack, quacked out the story of Cluck's brave rescue." There are quite a few groan-inducing puns: "'How udderly terrible!' mooed Moo." The illustrations are candy-bright, cheerful, and quirky.