257. The Fishing Trip by Beatrice Rodriguez

The Fishing Trip by Beatrice Rodriguez
Published September 2012 Gecko Press

From the publisher:
Chicken, Fox and their soon-to-hatch egg are a happy family, but there is nothing to eat. Chicken leaves the island to catch some food. But the ocean is a dangerous place: she must battle toothy birds and a giant, hungry sea monster. Will Chicken's new family survive? When she finally gets home with her bounty, she discovers a worrying scene. Perhaps the real danger is inside her house

This is the third book about the unlikely pair, the chicken and the fox.  The first two being, The Chicken Thief and The Treasure Thief.  The books are wordless, but the storyline is very clear.

Here’s a quick rundown of the story so far.  A fox runs away with a chicken, much to the horror of the chickens’ friends, and they chase the pair over sea and land to stop the evil fox, only to realise that the pair are actually in love. In this story, the fox and chicken are expecting a new addition to their family, the need to stock the fridge is so great that the hen leaves the egg in fox’s care while she goes to sea to find food.  On her trip she encounters all sorts of danger, but will obviously do whatever she has to feed her family. On her return, a horrifying sight greats her, but maybe this is another case of jumping to the wrong conclusion.

I love these books.  For the young reader, they are just a simple fun story full of action and narrow escapes.  For older readers there is a whole other side to this story, there’s the concept of family and the fact that modern families are made up of all kinds of combinations, mixed race, same sex, single parents.  There’s also the idea that we make assumptions about people based on preconceived ideas or what we see on the surface, when in reality there is usually a lot more to the story.

Who will like this book: Girls and boys age 5+
Read it if you like: The Chicken Thief by Beatrice Rodriguez