ALA Booklist

Brand-new readers will get a kick out of this I Can Read! Level 2 story about a poor chicken who just wants to help. Friends Earl and Pearl are planting pumpkins, but every time they turn around there's a big white chicken. The word shoo becomes an integral part of the text, as the kids try to get rid of the chicken as they plant and water. Then one day the grasshoppers come, and no matter how Earl and Pearl try to shoo them away, these nibblers hold their ground and pose a problem for the pumpkins. Enter the chicken, who with flapping wings has a much more effective shooing style. The text is as simple as it can be, but together with the amusing ink-and-watercolor art, all sorts of emotions are aired: annoyance, dejection, frustration, and jubilation when the pumpkins are spared. An amusing choice for new readers.

Horn Book (Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2009)

Getting underwear, contracting the mumps, and caroling with your tone-deaf family are three unfortunate scenarios featured in this easy-reader-format collection of Christmas poems. Each is witty, silly, and entertaining, and many pack punch lines with surprising, satisfying twists. The verses are now accompanied by Hafner's equally amusing illustrations, which animate the words for an extra kick of humor.

Kirkus Reviews

<p>New readers and new gardeners alike will cluck with pleasure at the adventures of Earl and Pearl. Earl and Pearl want to grow pumpkins, so they set off, seed packet and shovel in hand, to begin their new garden. Pesky Chicken wants in on the fun, but the kids just shoo her off, over and over. When grasshoppers take up residence in the pumpkin patch, Chicken shows that she is good for something after all. Familiar easy-to-decode and sight words make this an ideal book for the newest reader. The repeated "Shoo! Shoo!" and "Cluck! Cluck!" add to the action, ensuring laughter and reading success. A generous font, very short sentences and careful text placement make this a notch better than most books for the very beginning reader. Truesdell's familiar and amusing illustrations perfectly reflect the spirit of the story of a boy (a boy of color!), a girl and a chicken, tending to their pumpkins. (Picture book. 4-6)</p>

School Library Journal (Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 CDT 2008)

K-Gr 3 This newly illustrated title has been repackaged for the I Can Read series. The bright, full-color artwork is much more modern and appealing than the earlier editions static three-color version. It is interesting to compare the work of the same illustrator over the 27 years since the first edition was published; libraries should consider a fresh copy of this collection of poems for newly independent readers. Anne Connor, Los Angeles Public Library