Chicken Joy on Redbean Road:
A Bayou Country Romp

by Jacqueline Briggs Martin,  Illustrated by Melissa Sweet.

Miss Cleoma, "a plain brown hen," loves the crowing of the blue-headed rooster, but when he loses his voice after a case of the chicken measles, he is threatened with becoming "quiet rooster stew." Deciding that music will cure him, Cleoma sets out to find Joe Beebee, the best fiddle player there is.  — Booklist

Included on The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books - "books of special distinction" for April 2007.  List at BCCB-April 2007 Stars

Saturated in Cajun and Creole cadences and sensibilities, this rollicking, multilayered tale is at once lyrical and tongue-in-cheek funny. The playful illustrations are a clever mix of collage and bright watercolors that feature varying perspectives and impressively expressive poultry. The spreads are overlaid with panels of handmade paper containing the pictures, with chickens dancing a red-dotted trail over, under, and around them. The sheer insouciance of both text and art will have readers dancing the two-step and sharing that chicken joy as well. -- School Library Journal

In a text that is at the same time eloquent and hilarious, Martin creates a rousing barnyard tale into which she skillfully interweaves the story of fictional musician Joe Beebee, recounting his childhood love of music and his attempts to fashion his own instrument from a cigar box and an old screen door. ... lively illustrations, employing collage and found objects, are the perfect complement to this lyrical Louisiana tale of good music and good friends. -- Kirkus Reviews

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