Gimme Shelter

November 1, 2017
The fifth misadventure of the Chicken Squad starts at the bottom of a hole. Sugar, who dug the hole, hopes Dirt, Poppy, and Sweetie can manage to rescue her from it. (Not exactly.) Sugar intends the hole as a storm shelter for a potential future weather crisis: Listen, whether it strikes today or tomorrow or next week doesn't matterWhat matters is that we are prepared for it! The storm shelter sparks no end of disagreement among the chickens, and the conversation veers wildly from meteorology to flatulence ( It's Latin for who cut the cheese' ) to the United States Constitution and voting rights ( A secret password to vote? That's unconstitutional! ). The wacky Chicken Squad drama bears some unmistakable resemblances to real political issues, as the chickens continue to debate over who will be welcome to use the shelter. Elsewhere in the yard, the squirrels and the chipmunks are now digging their own private holes just in case, though they are not sure of what. In the end, when a real emergency strikes, the chickens, the squirrels, and the chipmunks all bumble through it together, and if they learn little else, they do recognize that working together works best and that e pluribus unum ( out of many, one ) is not Latin for one big hole. Slapstick humor, a large font, and regular spot art keep this series entertaining and accessible for new chapter book readers. julie roach

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