My Life as a Chicken

by Ellen A. Kelley, Michael Slack (Illustrator)

When Pauline Poulet learns she'll be the next special of the day at Cock-a-Doodle-Doo Café, she flies the coop faster than you can say "Chicken pie, delicious"! Thus begins her journey of peril and catastrophe, courage and She is chased. She is dunked. She is tossed tail over beak. But can Pauline escape the dinner plate?
     
Kids everywhere will love clucking along with this chicken's battle "Pauline, prevail!"

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Childrens, Adventure, Storytime, Birds, Fiction

40 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2007

Reviews

[Boni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although there isn't much to this book plot-wise, it is a hilarious read-aloud and the illustrations are terrific. My kids couldn't follow the story, but they were highly entertained by my goofy reading. Fun language, offbeat meter and a refrain you will hear from your kids for days afterward- "Pauline prevail!" -even though they still don't know what it means!

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent book for rhyming words and playful fun words that describe the chickens situation. The situations in this book are very outrageous and fun for kids to read. This would be a great book to read during down time or to transition from a rowdy activity to something calm.

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book was a fun read with my 6 year old. I especially loved reading "Pauline Prevail" in a chicken voice. You had to be here to appreciate it...but my son enjoyed it.

[Sandrahoney Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Life as a Chicken is a fast-paced, humorous picture book that kids will absolutely love. The story follows Pauline Poulet as she makes a daring escape from becoming a café's lunch special. Ellen A. Kelley's text is full of fun alliteration and catchy rhyming phrases like "Chicken pie, delicious!" while Michael Slack’s vibrant, expressive illustrations bring Pauline's wild journey to life. It’s a wonderful read-aloud book for young children who enjoy action, humor, and a brave animal protagonist.

[Heather Bailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a hilarious read with my 8 year old son. Some of the words went a bit over his head, but that was good, because it presented an opportunity for me to expand his vocabulary. My favorite:

“By sneaking off this shifty ship,
I’ll give these scalawags the slip.
Hours pass atop the mast.
I wait.
The sea cats snooze at last!”

Lots of action and funny pictures.

[Ham · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars - This might be the most inconsistent book I’ve ever read. In some places the art was fantastic and the prose clever. In the majority of it, the art was passable and the writing amateur. Some parts rhymed… others not. Sometimes she shouted about herself in third person… other times she just squawked. I had whiplash by the end.

[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its one unfortunate event after another when Pauline leaves the farm to avoid going from layer to fryer. Don't fret, there's a happy landing in store for our intrepid clucker.

And, I love her frequent cry of "Pauline, prevail!"

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bit of a strange story but I liked the poetic rhythm.

[MJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have chickens. This book was kinda dumb.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfectly and wonderfully absurd. Clever rhymes. Lots of fun.

[Rida · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was funny.

[Jessica Vu · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book may be hard for younger children to follow even though they will be laughing really hard at the chicken's adventure. I would use this book with a 3-5th grade class to illistrate how I might go about looking up words I wasn't sure the meaning of. I would model it first, but using the dictionary, an online resource or asking a friend, etc. to help me find out the meaning of the word. I would then give each student a word and ask that they bring me a definition in their own words, and a sentence using the word, the next day in class.
This is a great way to widen students vocaulary and show them how they can use these words in their writing to help bring it to life. It also helps students develop a sense of wonder when the stumble apon a word they don't know. After we have discussed the meaning of all the words, I will reread the book and ask students if they liked it better the second time around-since they now know the meaning of the unfamiliar words.

Vocabulary
Creative writing
Rhyming

[Dena McMurdie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read more reviews on my blog: Books for Kids

Humor oozes from every page of this delightful picture book! It was funny, witty, and engaging. Wildly entertaining, My Life as a Chicken will have children and adults laughing at the long string of misfortunes that befall Pauline as she tries to escape one hungry creature after another.

The writing is well done and there are just enough words to every page that the story moves forward nicely.

I am giving this book four stars. The only reason it is not getting five stars is because there are a few instances where the words are mixed around so much that they are difficult for children to understand, and a couple of the pictures are too dark to see what is happening very easily.

The Illustrations: The artwork is unique and stylized. It fits right in with the style of the writing and compliments it very well. The only complaint I had was the one I mentioned in the paragraph above. Other than that, this was a very fun read out loud book!

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Our youngest borrowed this book from her elementary school library. We just had to read it right away and we really liked it. The sing-song rhyming narrative and the hilarious and colorful cartoonish illustrations really make this a fun book to read aloud. The plot really reminded us a lot of Louise, The Adventures of a Chicken by Kate DiCamillo, but it was a much sillier story.

[April Thompson Freeman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I realize this is supposed to be a story of an adventurous chicken that is trying to escape the inevitable (in her mind), but it just didn't float my boat. Although there were pirates, and I just love pirates, it fell short for me. Poor Pauline has quite a few issues to deal with before ending up where she feels she belongs. Overall I think kids would enjoy the story, but again, didn't do it for me.

[Megan Mccormick · Rating 1 out of 5]

this book was cute but not my favorite. It was too long for me and the words were difficult i felt. If i was a child trying to read this then i would have struggled. The illustration is nice however i just did not like this book and was waiting for it to be over. the only reason i had to finish this book was because i was reading this to my friend and i could stop. had i been reading it lone i would have stopped simply because i did not like this book.

[Greta · Rating 4 out of 5]

The perils of Pauline--wasn't that a bad "b" movie? Anyway, the book about the perils of Pauline chicken is as far fetched as the movie. It's just one more thing after another. Kids love it though.

I just re-read it and it's grown on me a bit. It's better the second time around. I change it to a three star book.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I so wanted to give this 5 stars, but had to knock it down to 4 1/2 because of one small line--the last--which is unfortunate because it is a wonderfully written book. I just couldn't abide the author intrusion at the end.
But, I will probably buy this book for my collection as it is full of wonderful verse and it is a nice companion book with Sailor Moo: Cow At Sea. Well done!

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this to my almost 3-year-old tonight. The pictures are great and tell the story better than the words. The story is told in prose and uses quite a few large words that are too much for kids to really get the story. They get the pictures, but they won't get the story by listening to it. Bottom line: Great illustrations.

[Mitchell Ary · Rating 3 out of 5]

i liked the rhyme scheme within the book and i liked how the author made the book humorous. and the humor kept me intrigues while reading the book. i laughed out loud at this outlandish chicken because her adventures were so ridiculous. i like this book but not enough to give it 5 stars unfortunately.

[The Brothers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Asher (4yo) rates this five stars because he found the illustrations pretty funny. The story itself is about the catastrophes that befall this chicken who's escaping from her coop to keep from being turned into dinner. I loved the rhymes and how the chicken would declare throughout the book, "Pauline prevail!"

Nice, fun illustrations.

[Monalisa Johnson-brown]

It is about a chicken who lived on a farm whose master was talking about killing him to make pie. He did not want to be eaten so he fled. On his journey he was chased by other animals, pushed over board, and finally his journey ended at a petty zoo where he felt more comfortable.

[Ubalstecha]

Think Perils of Pauline, but Pauline is a chicken. Lots of texts, so not really for the yougest set, but older children will enjoy the story of a chicken who gets into greater and greater scrapes trying to escape being a pie.

[Shelly Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has numerous rhyming words. The chicken is searching for a place to fit in and this is a topic that many children are expereincing. There are various words that would be great for vocabulary building.

[Mim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a neat short story, I think we've read it 10 times now. The chicken (Pauline) doesn't like her life so she decides to change things...she goes through many adversities and finally ends up with the life she always wanted. "Pauline Prevail!"

[Carol Royce Owen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pauline has learned that the owner of the egg hatchery where she is employed has developed a taste for chicken. So off she goes to save herself. As she runs, though she finds herself in several situations, and each seems worse than the last.

[Mike Stucka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Possibly the finest children's book ever written. The rhymes, the color, the action are all among the best out there. Heck, we had this book memorized before the kid was born, because the parents just liked reading it so much to the belly.

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pauline Poulet has had an unusual life for a chicken and is quite possibly the most well traveled chicken I've ever read about. Like any fair explorer, Pauline is happy to settle down once she finds a place that pleases her.

Story in rhyme, older child more like to "get' humor.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kind of a fun story; I liked the style of the rhymes, and I liked the "Pauline Prevail!" refrain, it seemed to embody "girl power" if that makes any sense. Was disappointed that the human cast was all White, but the main characters were the animals, and the wacky, convoluted scenery.

[Jennifer Heise · Rating 4 out of 5]

My five year old son brought this home from the school library, loved it, and giggled insanely over Pauline's perils (even if he didn't quite get her battle cry, "Pauline, Prevail!"). A fun book for reading together that gave him good fodder for the 'what was this book about' questions.