A Chick Called Saturday

by Joyce Dunbar

Saturday decides that there has to be more to life than clucking, scratching and pecking. He tries to do all the things that the other farmyard animals can do until he sees the most magnificent creature of all, and discovers that a little chick can have a moment of glory too.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals

Paperback

First published April 3, 2003

About the author

Joyce Dunbar is an English author of over seventy children’s books, best known for Tell Me Something Happy Before I Go To Sleep, This Is The Star, and the Mouse and Mole series. Born in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, she studied English at Goldsmiths College before teaching drama until hearing loss led her to write full time in 1989. Her first children’s book appeared when she was 35, followed by works such as Mundo and the Weather-Child, which explored the experiences of a deaf child and earned critical recognition. Her stories have been adapted for stage, television, and interactive media, with Mouse and Mole becoming a 26-part animated series. She has also been an advocate for deaf awareness, cycling across Cuba for charity. Dunbar lives in Norwich.

Reviews

[Kimberly]

Saturday is the last chick to hatch and has all the spunk and curiosity that can exist in a chick. His days consist of exploring and doing things outside the box to discover who he is meant to be. When he finally hears the rooster crow he figures out what he is supposed to do and lets out his own voice.
This would be a good book to illustrate that everyone is different. And that you have to try many different things before you find what you are good at.

[Katie Born]

I chose this book because I read it as a child. The drawings in this book stood out to me. There are rough pencil lines filled in with color. The colors are mostly dull, except for the main character Saturday who is a bright yellow. I liked how this made the main character in the book stand out. The story is adorable, about a chick trying to find his place in the world. It has a great message and beautiful artwork to accompany it.

[Deb]

The favorite of the books I read to Alena this trip to the library.

[Mira]

Love this art. Story totally had me going, I was thinking "wow, chickens really can't do anything special!" But of course they can.

[Lauren Atkinson]

Top tier children's book

[Joanie]

I would use this book in a pre-k or kindergarten setting to teach "days of the week". What I like most about this book is that it's organized where students can make a list or name the things that the chick decides to do each day. Good book for a sequencing lesson; students can organize the events and match it to the correct week day.

[E]

Potential Problems: None
Personal Response: The moral of the story is to do what is possible, and I felt that other stories could teach that better.

[Heather]

Both my son and I thought the book should have ended differently. Or at least have a few more pages to finish the story