Agatha Parrot and the Thirteenth Chicken

by Kjartan Poskitt

The fifth zany adventure with Agatha Parrot One night me and my friends had to look after some baby chickens but one of them disappeared. Eeek eeek panic panic—where could he be? That’s when Bianca found something blocking up her trombone, then Dad found a lump under his new wallpaper, and then we saw mad Ivy burying something in a plant pot! (Don’t worry, there is a happy ending. Promise promise.) Agatha Parrot. 

Genres: Childrens

224 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2013

About the author

Kjartan Poskitt is an author and TV presenter who is best known for writing the Murderous Maths children's series of books. Poskitt was educated at Collingwood College, Durham. In addition to his popular science and maths books, which include books on Isaac Newton (Dead Famous: Isaac Newton and his Apple), puzzles, practical jokes and secred codes, Poskitt has written a book of magical tricks, a GCSE Maths support book and four Rosie and Jim annuals. In 2007, Poskit published the first in a new series of children's novels called Urgum the Axeman.

He also wrote the theme tune for the children's art program SMart, as well as the title theme and music for the first two series of Brum. He is also the creator of a logic puzzle, Kjarposko.

He has been a presenter for a number of (mostly BBC) educational children's TV shows.

Reviews

[Senator · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute. Needed a little more, but with great illustrations and a funny story kids will like it.

[Sally Wilsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally a book for children that is written for children with fun and craziness. Agatha live on Odd Street and goes to Odd Street School. Agatha has crazy hair and that is who she is. She has her friends who also live on Odd Street. Bianca, Martha, Ivy and Ellie. She also has a teacher that changes her hair color every week. In this book Agatha and her friends are tasked to take care of newly hatched chicks. Unfortunately one of the 13 goes missing. What happens from there is fun with a little mystery thrown in. This is a good 5th grade and up book for children to read themselves or for younger children around 5 and up for a chapter book to be read to. Chapters are short and illustrations are sure to make children laugh.

[Pat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Agatha and her classmates get to take their newly hatched chickens home with them when the incubator breaks down. They locate 12 of them but what has happened to the 13th? They look everywhere without success. This beginning chapter book has 147 pages and large print. Black and white line drawings will help early readers to visualize the story. A chicken song, chicken headdresses, and ample amusing situations keep the story lighthearted and fun.

[Rhoda Crowell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adorable

[Tracy Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this early chapter book whose cast of characters is a group of quirky friends with innocence and laughable circumstances. Random the chick is the best!

[Daisy May Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first came across Agatha Parrot at a conference I attended. This is the fifth title in the series but it's immediately accessible to new readers. Two neat little illustrations at the start of the book, one of the school and one of Odd Street where Agatha lives with her friends, does the trick. It's some clever work and credit's due to David Tazzyman who continues to illustrate, quite smartly and vividly, throughout the book. His lines are loose and exuberant and they're not *intimidating* illustrations. The lines aren't bald and clean, the edges aren't dull with perfection, and that's exactly the right tone for this furiously exuberant book.

For those of you who haven't heard of Agatha Parrot, she's like Darcy Burdock meets Alice-Miranda. Agatha is very barely contained within these pages and I can see her appealing to a very wide range of readers. Her, and her group of girl friends, are all intensely figured and come across well with their own characteristics.

One of the elements that didn't quite work for me was that there's intermittent mention made of "the old man who types out these books for me" and at one point, Agatha recounts an argument she's had with him about her word choice. Whilst I'm conscious that this is a very adult critique of a book (and oh, there's a thesis right there and it's one I'll explore later), it was a choice that took away from the book for me. Agatha is so furiously attention-grabbing that to dilute that focus through the introduction of this other presence felt like a problematic choice for me.

[Ash · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a super cute book that my six-year-old daughter and I both thoroughly enjoyed. There’s a lot of fun humor and the writing flows well. I’m actually really happy I stumbled across this series, and I plan on buying more for our bedtime books. An added plus is that the main character sounds like a child, but still isn’t too bratty or dumb (two things that have bothered me in the past with kid’s books).

Anyway, I highly suggest this one to any parents looking for an age appropriate chapter book that’s just as fun to read as it is for your child to listen to. Oh, added bonus, I also didn’t think it too challenging a read for little ones, if you’d prefer they read it themselves. I feel it’s entertaining enough they’ll WANT to read it as well.

All in all, a worthwhile buy.


**A copy of this book was given to me through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**

[Andréa]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is full of fun and imagination