Thursday, January 17, 2013

[BOOK REVIEW] Chicken Sunday by Patricia Polacco


Title:  Chicken Sunday

Author:  Patricia Polacco

Genre:  Easter / Friendship / Jewish / African-American

Year Published: 1992


Year Read: 2011

Publisher: Puffin

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 5+  (Nothing Objectionable)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 


What I love so much about Patricia Polacco's works is that her books are mostly based on her real life as a child.  Well, her book “Chicken Sunday” is such a book and it shows the multicultural friendship that Patricia has with two African-American boys, Stewart and Winston and the story details the three friends' determination to prove their innocence when a group of rough boys threw eggs at Mr. Kodinski's shop!  “Chicken Sunday” is truly one heartwarming book that you should definitely check out!

Amazing! This book is beyond amazing!  Patricia Polacco has certainly out done herself in writing this book about the importance of true friendship.  What I really loved about Patricia Polacco's writing is how she shows the multicultural relationship between Patricia and Stewart and Winston as Patricia is Jewish-American while Stewart and Winston are African-American and these three friends are clearly inseparable as they treat each other like they are brothers and sister, a type of relationship you would never find in many children's books.  I also loved the relationship that Patricia had with Miss Eula as she truly treats Miss Eula like a grandmother, especially after hearing that her babushka (her grandmother) has died some years back and it was truly wonderful seeing the relationship between Miss Eula and Patricia blossom into love.  I also loved the fact that when Patricia, Stewart and Winston all got into trouble, they stood by each other no matter how harsh the situation was and that truly showed me how strong their friendship was.  Patricia Polacco's illustrations are truly magnificent in this book as all the characters are drawn in a realistic and effective way that has actually made me speechless every time I looked at the images.  I loved the way that Patricia Polacco drew the characters' facial expressions as they ranged from sad to surprised expressions that made the book truly amazing to read.  My favorite image in this book was of the image of Mr. Kodinski looking at some eggs that Patricia and her friends had brought to him and you can see the intense yet surprised expression on his face and that truly made my heart melt with sympathy for him as I can imagine everything he has gone through when he moved away from his homeland.  I also loved how Patricia Polacco gave Mr. Kodinski an old fashioned yet sophisticated look about him as he wears a large black hat, a white shirt, black suspenders and has a shaggy white beard that truly details his personality.

Overall, “Chicken Sunday” is a wonderful experience for children who love reading about multicultural friendships and learning about the true meaning of having a family.  I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since the length of this book might be a bit too much for smaller children.




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