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The Hoboken Chicken Emergency #2
Looking for Bobowicz
LOOKING FOR BOBOWICZ
Daniel Pinkwater
Nick Itch isn't thrilled about having to move from the suburbs to hot, muggy Hoboken.
But when he meets Bruno Ugg and Loretta Fischetti, the three become fast friends, bonding over Classics Comics, pirate radio, and a plan to find the legendary Arthur Bobowicz and his 266-pound chicken, Henrietta.
Ages 8+
Daniel Pinkwater
Nick Itch isn't thrilled about having to move from the suburbs to hot, muggy Hoboken.
But when he meets Bruno Ugg and Loretta Fischetti, the three become fast friends, bonding over Classics Comics, pirate radio, and a plan to find the legendary Arthur Bobowicz and his 266-pound chicken, Henrietta.
Ages 8+
213 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
5 people are currently reading
93 people want to read
About the author
Daniel Pinkwater
156 books414 followersDaniel Manus Pinkwater is an author of mostly children's books and is an occasional commentator on National Public Radio. He attended Bard College. Well-known books include Lizard Music, The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death, Fat Men from Space, Borgel, and the picture book The Big Orange Splot. Pinkwater has also illustrated many of his books in the past, although for more recent works that task has passed to his wife Jill Pinkwater.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
July 25, 2011
This is another one of the books that I have listened to on cd where I think the parents liked it more than the kids. This book was laugh out loud funny. My oldest (9) also laughed through it but the younger kids didn't catch all of the humor. A good choice for a funny family read.
December 3, 2024
Well, they found Bobowicz and made some new friends, got their comics and bicycle back, and avoided the the oyster stew. Surreal and funny.
May 3, 2010
Cute sequel to the 'Hoboken Chicken Emergency' about a boy that hears of the urban legend of the giant chicken and decides to investigate it.
The usual mix of humor, odd food and fun characters.
Love the little world that Pinkwater has created.
The usual mix of humor, odd food and fun characters.
Love the little world that Pinkwater has created.
April 13, 2010
The kids in my second grade literature circle absolutely loved this book. They had fun trying to solve the mystery and reading all the words that the characters used. Most importantly, they had fun reading it and they understood everything.
March 7, 2024
Eccentric and silly, just the opposite of UNUSUAL CHICKENS FOR THE EXCEPTIONAL POULTRY FARMER because in this book the boy is being moved to the city by his parents for his betterment. Quote from p. 197..."Oh, this is such an urban thing to have happen! my mother said. "A giant chicken! This is the kind of rich life experience your father and I wanted you to have." I like the characters in the book, both the children and adults. The librarian named Starr Lackawanna (funny names throughout this book) on p. 143 says, "I live to astonish, amaze, and astound. Those are things librarians do well." SO COOL! Example of word play and fun on p. 147, "It stopped being an art school in 1939. It specialized in avantgarde--that's ultramodern--art. They had classes in Impossibleism, Supersurrealism, Dynamic Double-Daddy Realism, Ishkabibleism, and Mama." "Like Dada, only nicer." LOL.
I learned something about Beaux-Arts architecture on p. 156. "Look at all the ornaments and doodads and wiggly things on it." "Sort of a cross between a wedding cake and a nightmare."
Do kids who read this stuff get the jokes? *Loved the chapters numbered with Roman Numerals.
I learned something about Beaux-Arts architecture on p. 156. "Look at all the ornaments and doodads and wiggly things on it." "Sort of a cross between a wedding cake and a nightmare."
Do kids who read this stuff get the jokes? *Loved the chapters numbered with Roman Numerals.
January 20, 2019
I tend to find children's books predicable and thus dull, and I'm not saying I didn't figure out the main puzzle, but I could hardly claim this book is predictable.
March 23, 2019
Pinkwater perfection.
May 28, 2022
I love Daniel Pinkwater so much.
November 30, 2021
Nick has a happy life in Happy Valley, NJ. He likes his school, his modern house with a front and back yard, and suburban life in general. His parents, however, felt that the suburbs were a poor environment for a young boy to grow up in…so they move to Hoboken. Unsure of the logic of the move, Nick (whose real name is Ivan Itch) has the opportunity to experience the “urban lifestyle,” and he does from the first day-his bike is stolen. Although it is a used little girl’s bike with pink hearts all over it, he wants it back (“It’s the principle of the thing,” he tells Officer Spooney).
In the meantime, he becomes friends with Loretta Fischetti and Bruno Ugg. Together, they spend the hot summer days reading Classic Comic books, listening to WRJR, (Hoboken’s pirate radio station run by Vic Trola), and trying to catch bats with their hats at the city park.
“See?” Nick’s mother says delightedly, “We just arrived, and already you’re doing urban things. You’re interacting with urban children. Didn’t I tell you moving to Hoboken would be good for you?”
However, all is not well. Nick’s bike isn’t the only item stolen. Other bikes in Hoboken have disappeared as well. The thefts are blamed on a mysterious person, a phantom who leaves broken machinery and half a tuna fish sandwich at the crime scene. The final straw comes when the kid’s collection of Classic Comics are swiped.
“Now it’s personal,” Loretta Fischetti said.
“It wasn’t personal when my bike was stolen?” [Nick] asked.
“Now it’s more personal,” Loretta Fischetti said.
As they begin to dig into the mystery of the phantom, they encounter many odd people who “dummy up” when it comes to giving information. Discovering a scrapbook, and the town librarian Starr Lackawanna, Nick, Loretta, and Bruno begin to piece together the clues that not only solve the phantom mystery, but also resurfaces an unspeakable event in Hoboken history that involves a mad scientist, a boy named Bobowicz, and a six-foot rampaging chicken (“Her name is Henrietta. She likes potatoes. Be nice to her.”). How do all of these random things relate into one story? You’ll have to read “Looking for Bobowicz” and find out for yourselves. I’m afraid I can’t say any more, I’m D and D (“Deaf and Dumb”).
In the meantime, he becomes friends with Loretta Fischetti and Bruno Ugg. Together, they spend the hot summer days reading Classic Comic books, listening to WRJR, (Hoboken’s pirate radio station run by Vic Trola), and trying to catch bats with their hats at the city park.
“See?” Nick’s mother says delightedly, “We just arrived, and already you’re doing urban things. You’re interacting with urban children. Didn’t I tell you moving to Hoboken would be good for you?”
However, all is not well. Nick’s bike isn’t the only item stolen. Other bikes in Hoboken have disappeared as well. The thefts are blamed on a mysterious person, a phantom who leaves broken machinery and half a tuna fish sandwich at the crime scene. The final straw comes when the kid’s collection of Classic Comics are swiped.
“Now it’s personal,” Loretta Fischetti said.
“It wasn’t personal when my bike was stolen?” [Nick] asked.
“Now it’s more personal,” Loretta Fischetti said.
As they begin to dig into the mystery of the phantom, they encounter many odd people who “dummy up” when it comes to giving information. Discovering a scrapbook, and the town librarian Starr Lackawanna, Nick, Loretta, and Bruno begin to piece together the clues that not only solve the phantom mystery, but also resurfaces an unspeakable event in Hoboken history that involves a mad scientist, a boy named Bobowicz, and a six-foot rampaging chicken (“Her name is Henrietta. She likes potatoes. Be nice to her.”). How do all of these random things relate into one story? You’ll have to read “Looking for Bobowicz” and find out for yourselves. I’m afraid I can’t say any more, I’m D and D (“Deaf and Dumb”).
August 26, 2015
Eccentric, Smart, Deadpan, Good Humor
The characters are eccentric, the plot is slapdash and zany, and the dialogue is drop dead funny. No one does clever, understated, deadpan kid humor better than Pinkwater and this book expands the Hoboken Chicken canon with another fine episode.
But here's the important thing - Pinkwater books are a unique mix of big-hearted, generous and forgiving good humor and smart, puckish, clever, sly wordplay and jokiness. I'm not quite sure how you can create restrained zaniness or straightfaced madcap lunacy, but Pinkwater consistently hits that sweet spot.
Whenever I read a good younger reader Pinkwater book, and this one certainly qualifies, I think of a favorite, funny, indulgent, slightly nuts Uncle who shows up for the holidays and who the adults vaguely disapprove of. But all of the nieces and nephews love him because he offers complete and unconditional acceptance and affection. And because he seems to understand them. That's sort of what you get here.
I'm sure there are readers of all ages who don't respond as I do to Pinkwater, and think he's only O.K. and maybe just silly. I get that. But every kid should at least try a Pinkwater book, and to that end this is an excellent place to start if you want to sample him.
The characters are eccentric, the plot is slapdash and zany, and the dialogue is drop dead funny. No one does clever, understated, deadpan kid humor better than Pinkwater and this book expands the Hoboken Chicken canon with another fine episode.
But here's the important thing - Pinkwater books are a unique mix of big-hearted, generous and forgiving good humor and smart, puckish, clever, sly wordplay and jokiness. I'm not quite sure how you can create restrained zaniness or straightfaced madcap lunacy, but Pinkwater consistently hits that sweet spot.
Whenever I read a good younger reader Pinkwater book, and this one certainly qualifies, I think of a favorite, funny, indulgent, slightly nuts Uncle who shows up for the holidays and who the adults vaguely disapprove of. But all of the nieces and nephews love him because he offers complete and unconditional acceptance and affection. And because he seems to understand them. That's sort of what you get here.
I'm sure there are readers of all ages who don't respond as I do to Pinkwater, and think he's only O.K. and maybe just silly. I get that. But every kid should at least try a Pinkwater book, and to that end this is an excellent place to start if you want to sample him.
August 29, 2008
At his best, Daniel Pinkwater is delightful. In fact, even just running at 75% power, Daniel Pinkwater is intermittently delightful. In Looking for Bobwicz, he's at about 80% of his best, and that's good enough to get me through the book with some genuine laughs even on second reading (a few years after the first).
This sequel takes The Hoboken Chicken Emergency in long flashback. You'll be fine if you haven't read the related previous story.
This book includes the Hoboken Bat Hat Festival episode.
This sequel takes The Hoboken Chicken Emergency in long flashback. You'll be fine if you haven't read the related previous story.
This book includes the Hoboken Bat Hat Festival episode.
April 18, 2015
Easily one of the most unusual reads that I can remember and I loved every minute of it. You wouldn't think a book involving an enormous chicken, the city of Hoboken, New Jersey, and a group of kids that like to spend time in an old basement would make for prime reading material, but you'd be wrong. This book is incredible, and timeless in its own way. What a great read. If you missed this one, you really missed something good.
March 5, 2012
If you loved The Hoboken Chicken Emergency as much as I did, you will be delighted to read this eccentric companion novel. My favorite thing was that there was a character named Sean Vergessen, because that's the punchline of a Yiddish joke my grandmother used to tell. ("Sean Vergessen" sounding like the Yiddish for "I forgot.") My only complaint is that if Daniel Pinkwater is going to describe so many Classic Comics I wish he would have mentioned The Black Tulip, which is my favorite.
October 1, 2010
I am so happy that Daniel Pinkwater is still out there, churning out these oddball wonders. This book contains a lot of references to classic chicken-themed songs of yore ("C-H-I-C-K-E-N," "Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens," "A Chicken Ain't Nothin' But A Bird," etc.) and probably the best/dumbest joke about Dadaism ever, among other things.
March 22, 2016
Daniel Pinkwater reading the book makes it all more fun. It's been days since I've turned the CD in and I'm still smiling! I love the confrontation at the end with the kids, Nick's parents and Vic. It's hilarious. I also loved the old songs. I’m looking forward to listening to more of Daniel Pinkwater’s books.
Daniel Pinkwater also has a podcast at http://pinkwater.com/podcast/.
Daniel Pinkwater also has a podcast at http://pinkwater.com/podcast/.
February 12, 2013
A sequel to The Hoboken Chicken Emergency, a madcap romp with giant chickens and the Bobowicz family in New Jersey. Enough said. :)
August 11, 2007
I simply adored this book!
May 12, 2009
Fast read, the younger kids enjoyed it. A bit silly but alright.
May 23, 2009
I learned to be nice to chickens.
May 23, 2019
Another story about the giant chicken. Love this series for kids.
January 26, 2011
I liked this sequel of sorts better than the Hoboken Chicken Emergency. The author tied in very well with some plot points of the first book with this.
March 1, 2012
A little...no maybe a lot silly!
January 7, 2014
One of our family's all-time favorite audiobooks. Fun and very funny, even the 6th or 7th time!
August 27, 2016
Love Daniel Pinkwater. Nothing has surpassed Rainy Morning yet, but every sentence is a joy to read.
September 23, 2015
My eight year old son adored this book...which was really the whole point of reading it.
November 2, 2015
One of my favorite child fiction writers of all time.
Read
September 24, 2016We enjoyed this as well. Next we'll try one of his non-chicken books.
February 12, 2011
amazing! i dont know if i finished it though....
April 5, 2011
Amazing
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews