The Case of the Weird Blue Chicken: The Next Misadventure

Chicken Squad #2

by Doreen Cronin, Kevin Cornell (Illustrator)

Now an animated series on Disney Junior!

The Chicken Squad is back for their second (mis)adventure, and this time they’re solving the mystery of a kidnapped…HOUSE? A hilarious, “easy to read” ( Booklist ) chapter book from the bestselling author of Click, Clack, Moo and The Trouble with Chickens .

Dirt, Sugar, Sweetie, and Poppy are the four members of The Chicken Squad, and business is booming. A weird blue bird has just flown into Chicken Squad headquarters squawking on about a house-napper (yes, house-napper), and it is once again up to the squad to uncover who is up to no good. But there is something NUTS about this story that the squad can’t quite put their feather on…and oh, brother , is it key to solving the case!

Genres: Mystery, Humor, Childrens, Fiction, Animals, Chapter Books, Fantasy

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Doreen Cronin (born 1966) is an American writer of children's books, including Click Clack Moo: Cows That Type, a very well-received picture book illustrated by Betsy Lewin.

Reviews

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
Read aloud to S and D.

[Darla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do love the chicken squad. They each have their own personality and talents. Love to watch them in action and see the farmyard from their point of view. Looking forward to the next adventure of these sassy little birds.

[Laila · Rating 3 out of 5]

My son really likes this series - they're cute and perfect for when your child is ready for chapter books. These little chicks are not very bright!

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first bit of fun is figuring out who the "weird blue chicken" is. For most American readers, the bird will be a familiar one. For west coast readers, it won't be. Our weird blue chickens are scrubbier.

The second fun bit is figuring out where the missing birdhouse is and gasp! where the missing chicken sibling has gone. Book two doesn't rely as heavily on reader knowledge to solve the mystery. This time the reader is brought along as the Chicken Squad does some actual recognizance.

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[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

First sentence: Dirt. Sugar. Poppy. Sweetie. You lost it. We'll find it.



Premise/plot: Dirt, Sugar, Poppy, and Sweetie are the chicken squad--a team of chicks who solve backyard mysteries for fun. This one features a WEIRD BLUE CHICKEN. A blue bird has come to them for help....



My thoughts: It's a quick read. I did like this one more than the first book in the series. (The Blue Bird aka the "weird blue chicken" isn't all that bright and the running gag through this one is that he mixes up inches and feet.) It was enjoyable enough, but overall a bit mindless.

[AMY · Rating 4 out of 5]

102 pages. This is a humorous story about a bluebird who comes to the chicks for help. Someone has kidnapped his birdhouse. The chicks enjoy a funny dialogue and solve the mystery involving a squirrel. Very funny and highly recommended to Grades 3-5.

[Cassie · Rating 5 out of 5]

So darn funny! We are loving this series!

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read with C. Sugar is my favourite. She is so bossy!

[Tamara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ridiculous, funny, well written early chapter book. Enjoyed reading this with my 6 yo. We’ll get more from this series for sure.

[Carol Royce Owen · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a funny, silly story that I can see first through third grade students loving. The Chicken Squad is back and poised to help a weird blue chicken (blue jay), but they don't trust him and he doesn't trust them. The bird's problem is that someone has taken over his birdhouse. While investigating the chickens return to their coop to find that there has been another crime - someone is stealing grumpy squirrel's nuts. Can the two crimes be related? In a style of an Abbott and Costello routine, Dirt, Sugar and Poppy work to solve the crime, but J.J. Tully, master detective, has his doubts, knowing the chicks are nothing but trouble themselves. "They know trouble all right...and not the easy kind of trouble, either, like 'Oops, I have a paper clip stuck in my nostril.' the hard kind of trouble. The ransom-note, accidental-fire, wing-in-a-sling, my brother-is-stuck-in-the-garden-hose kind of trouble."

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute follow up to the first book. Great early chapter book...

[Lillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 8 year old finished this book in an hour and loved it!

[Sheri S. · Rating 2 out of 5]

My girls and I listened to the audio version of this story. Maybe I needed to have listened/read the first book to really appreciate this book, but I found it kind of a strange story and not all that entertaining. The Chicken Squad is an odd group of birds who try to solve crimes in their area. In this book, they are attempting to help a blue bird who has a tendency to confuse feet with inches.

[Ramona Cantaragiu · Rating 3 out of 5]

In some ways this was better than the first book in the series. This is probably a result of the fact that I am now more accustomed to the four main characters. They are still mean to those who seek their help and they are still on the lookout for adventures, but the problem with this one is that the mystery is a bit more poorly constructed than in the first one. As a result, the ending is not as satisfying and you get the feeling it was a result of the writer running out of ideas.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

The chicken squad is on the case when a little bird shows up on their doorstep needing help. Detective Sugar is not sure if she can trust the "weird blue chicken," but she decides the squad will help out. Lots of silliness ensues (my favorite is trying to leave the coop without being followed), and "oh brother," will they ever solve the case?

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Chicken Squad is back, this time they're using their skills of crime solving, to help find a missing birdhouse, and discover whose behind the theft of Grumpy Squirrel's acorns. In the process of crime busting, they help teach the difference between feet, and inches, and the importance of fruit in one's diet.

[Courtney Umlauf · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute series for kids reading early chapter books. The silly humor is sure to please.

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[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

My students loved this book as a novel study, it is fun and funny. They enjoy doing voices and playing out the story as well as the interactions between characters. I felt that this book wasn't quite as good as the first as the ending was kind of ... wonky. There was not a lot of explanation about what happened with one of the chicken squad characters which I felt was just a bit odd.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not loving this series but my 6-year-old is into it and he can read about 90% of the words without help, so we'll likely continue with at least one more book in the series. My review for this is similar to my review for the first book. Not much happens, and not funny enough, but cute illustrations.

[Jill · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not very fond of the overall tone and voice of the series. Plus, it has a lot of American slang and informal sentence constructions which makes this early chapter book a challenge for non-American readers. Like “The hard kind of trouble. The ransom note, accidental
fire, wing-in-a-sling, my-brother-is-stuck-in-the-garden-hose kind of trouble”. Or “you wouldn’t know an inch if you see one.”

[Stacey Socholotuk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun and wacky like the first in the series. My students think they're quite humorous. A recommended read for EAL as the text is minimal (though some more challenging vocabulary for early EAL students) yet the content is not childish. Recommended for students in grades 1-3.

[Sarah Niebuhr Rubin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so much fun - a great read aloud with my son and husband. We all laughed heartily along the way. The characters are well crafted, and the illustrations support them well. I'd recommend and read again!

[Miles · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite part of the book was when grumpy squirrel was flying through the air and trying to get to the tree branch of a neighboring tree, and he missed. And he went screaming, "ahhhhhhhh." And then Sugar, "ahhhhhh." And then Dirt, "ahhhhhhh." And then Sweetie, "ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh."

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved that the weird blue chicken was a blue jay. This series really captures the comic absurdity that its characters represent. It's consistently funny and the madcap mysteries are great fun for readers of any age.

[Nina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute. Silly. My 6 and 7 year olds got some giggles out of it and it has an adult sense of dry humor that was not a bore to read aloud. It's a quick read with very short chapters so easily digestible for young readers.

[Rosa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mä toivoin että tässä olisi ollut yhtä mainio käänne kuin ekassa osassa. Mutta ihan samaan tämä ei ehkä yltänyt (tai odotin liikoja). Silti, päätön kohellus ja lievästi kyllästynyt koira tarkoittavat, että luen seuraavankin osan.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

The case of the weird blue chicken is a great book you should read it too.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kids liked it a lot

[Readergirl77 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nathan loves these books...so much fun. He read them more than once and wants to continue with the series.

[Greymalkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very fun! I think I liked the first one a smidge more but it was still very enjoyable.