ALA Booklist (Tue Sep 01 00:00:00 CDT 2009)

Hold onto your drumsticks, Turkey is in trouble. It's almost Thanksgiving and how can he avoid ending up on the dinner platter? He has an idea: he disguises himself as a horse, a cow, a pig, and a sheep, but none of them fool even the animals. Finally he tries being a rooster, but when Farmer Jake can't find Turkey, his wife says they could always eat rooster. Yikes! Turkey's final brainstorm is one last disguise a pizza delivery guy, and indeed his hide is saved by the tasty tomatoes, mushrooms, peppers, and onions growing on the farm. Turkey's costumes are ridiculously funny; for example, wearing a bucket on his beak with two slits for a pig snout and a scrub brush strapped to the back of his head for a horse's mane. Watercolor illustrations play up the bug-eyed animals with lots of in-your-face close-ups. Kids will eat this up this clever and comical tale d very likely request pizza for Thanksgiving dinner, too.

Horn Book

Turkey was in trouble. Bad trouble. The kind of trouble where it's almost Thanksgiving...and you're the main course. The enterprising fowl comes up with a series of costumes (mostly other animals) to disguise himself and otherwise outwit the hungry farm family. Humorous text and lively caricature illustrations combine for a spirited read-aloud.

Kirkus Reviews

Turkey's in the "kind of trouble where it's almost Thanksgiving...and you're the main course." Accordingly, Turkey tries on disguise after disguise, from horse to cow to pig to sheep, at each iteration being told that he looks nothing like the animal he's trying to mimic (which is quite true, as Harper's quirky watercolors make crystal clear). He desperately squeezes a red rubber glove onto his head to pass as a rooster, only to overhear the farmer suggest a poultry plan B when he's unable to turn up the turkey. Turkey's horrified expression as he stands among the peppers and tomatoes—in November? Chalk it up to artistic license—is priceless, but his surroundings give him an idea. Good fun, but it may lead to a vegetarian table or two. (Picture book. 4-8)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Here are some Thanksgiving books for readers of all appetites.

<REVIEW PUBLISHER=""Reed Business Information-US"" RELEASEDATE=""09/21/2009"" LANGUAGE=""EN"" SECRIGHTS=""YES"" PUBLICATION=""Publishers Weekly"" PUBDATE=""09/21/2009"" VOLUME=""256"" ISSUE=""38"" PAGE=""56"" SECTION=""Reviews"" SUBSECTION=""Children's Books"" CONTENTTYPE=""Review"" AUTHNAME=""Staff"">Turkey TroubleWendi Silvano, illus. by Lee Harper. Marshall Cavendish, $15.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-7614-5529-5

Turkey is in trouble—it's close to Thanksgiving and Farmer Jake is looking for him. But he has a plan: “What if he didn't look like a turkey? What if he looked like a horse?” And wearing a saddle and with a horse brush tied to the back of his head, he looks “just like a horse... almost.” His subsequent farm animal disguises (as a cow, pig and sheep, among others) are equally ineffective, and Silvano goes with a goofy gag for Turkey's final, successful costume: a pizza delivery man. With an autumnal palette of bright watercolors, Harper creates an exaggerated and emotive barnyard cast. Ages 4–8. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(Oct.)

School Library Journal (Thu Oct 01 00:00:00 CDT 2009)

PreS- Gr 3 As Thanksgiving approaches, Turkey fears that he will be the centerpiece of the holiday meal. Thus begins his quest for the perfect disguise so he won't be found when the time arrives. He ties a brush on the back of his head and wears a tiny saddle because surely no one would eat a horse for dinner. But the animals still recognize him. He tries to become a cow, a pig, a sheep, and a rooster. He does not look like any of them. When he hears Farmer Jake tell his wife that if they can't find the turkey, maybe they should eat the rooster for dinner, the protagonist comes up with the perfect ruse. This book is as silly as Denys Cazet's offerings about Minnie and Moo (HarperCollins) and just as funny. Harper's comical watercolor illustrations pair naturally with Silvano's clever, filled-with-wordplay text. A first choice for holiday collections. Mary Hazelton, Elementary Schools in Warren & Waldoboro, ME