Louise, The Adventures of a Chicken

Louise, The Adventures of a Chicken
by Kate DiCamillo

Louise, The Adventures of a Chicken
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Book Summary Information

Author: Kate DiCamillo
Brand: Baker and Taylor
Illustrator: Harry Bliss
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-09-23
ISBN: 0060755547
Number of pages: 56
Publisher: HarperCollins

Book Reviews of Louise, The Adventures of a Chicken

Book Review: A goofy book
Summary: 4 Stars

Reviewed by Simon Smith (age 9) for Reader Views (10/08)

I think you would really enjoy this book because it is a unique story. It is a large picture book with small but exciting chapters. The endpapers have a beautiful gold and white plant design. The artwork is very good and looks half realistic--faces are one of the artist's strengths.

Louise has three adventures: one at sea with pirates, one in the circus, and one in India. In chapter two, which is called "Louise Up High," Louise sneaks off to the circus and gets a job as a tightrope walker. While she is walking the wire, she almost falls into a lion's mouth, but flaps away just before it eats her. Then she hides in a clown's hat until it is safe.

One interesting thing is that in the middle of the book the author put the book sideways because the scene was so high when Louise was on the high wire. The book ends with Louise back at home telling all of the other chickens about her adventures. The book teaches that you think adventures are fun before they happen, but when they happen, they actually aren't. Louise almost gets eaten in each adventure but somehow escapes. I think the final adventure put an end to her wanting to have adventures because she was able to help other chickens to be free.

The back cover of the book has a quote from Emily Dickinson saying, "Hope is the thing with feathers . . ." I think the author put that there because it means that Louise had hope enough to get her home. I really liked this book because the artwork really catches your eye and the story drifts you in as if it were real life. Louise is crazy to go on all of these adventures. A good audience for this book would be boys and girls, ages four and up, and any kind of kid who likes adventures and made-up stories.

My favorite part of the book was when Louise is in the clown's hat, hiding from a lion. "Louise, The Adventures of a Chicken" by Kate DiCamillo is so good that I wouldn't change anything. even if I could.

Summary of Louise, The Adventures of a Chicken

She longed for adventure.

So she left her home and ventured out into the wide world.

The pleasures and perils she met proved plentiful: marauding pirates on the majestic seas, a ferocious lion under the bright lights of the big top, a mysterious stranger in an exotic and bustling bazaar.

Yet in the face of such daunting danger, our heroine . . .

She was brave.

She was fearless.

She was feathered.

She was a chicken.

A not-so-chicken chicken.

Her name?


She longed for adventure.

So she left her home and ventured out into the wide world.

The pleasures and perils she met proved plentiful: marauding pirates on the majestic seas, a ferocious lion under the bright lights of the big top, a mysterious stranger in an exotic and bustling bazaar.

Yet in the face of such daunting danger, our heroine . . .

She was brave.

She was fearless.

She was feathered.

She was a chicken.

A not-so-chicken chicken.

Her name?

A Look Inside Louise: The Adventures of a Chicken (Click on Images to Enlarge)

Louise Meets Some Pirates Louise Meets a Fortune Teller

Questions for Kate DiCamillo

Amazon.com: Tell us about Louise--how is she so brave? What do you do when you?re feeling a little bit chicken?

Kate Dicamillo: When I think of Louise, the words that come to mind are insouciant and unflappable. I suppose that when all is said and done, she is brave. But she's also kind of, um, *clueless.* As for me, when I am feeling afraid, I squawk and flap my wings and run around in circles and then I go ahead and try to do the thing that I'm pretty sure I can't do.

Amazon.com: I know pirates don't keep very good records, but have you found any historical evidence of chickens adventuring with pirates?

Dicamillo: Yes, it's true, pirates don't keep great records. But there are several diaries of chickens that have survived through the ages and they paint a quite colorful (and detailed (and sometimes horrifiying)) picture of the many adventures that chickens have had with pirates. I refererred to these diaries when I was doing my research. They were written in chicken scratch; it was slow going.

Amazon.com: If Louise, Despereaux, and Mercy Watson went on an adventure together, what do you think would happen?

Dicamillo: Wow, there's a picture . . . let's see. I can envision Louise standing on Mercy's back and Despereaux perched on Louise's head. *Anything* could happen, I suppose. And would. But I'm sure that whatever happened, it would involve toast, hot air balloons, cluelessness and Despereaux ultimately saving the day.

Amazon.com: This is your first collaboration with Harry Bliss. Did you have his style in mind when you wrote the story, or did you join up with him afterward?

Dicamillo: When I wrote Louise, I didn't have a particular illustrator in mind. But the chicken (the whole world!) that Harry has brought to life in this book has delighted and humbled me. He's a genius.

Amazon.com: You've written award-winning books for kids of every age. Do you tell a different kind of story for each age, or do you think all kids find the same elements appealing?

Dicamillo: I don't think about what age the story is for or who or why. I just try to tell a story that makes me happy, one that makes me laugh, or cry; I try to tell a story that makes me glad to be here.

Kate DiCamillo is the acclaimed author of many books for young readers, including The Tale of Despereaux, winner of the Newbery Medal; Because of Winn-Dixie, a Newbery Honor Book; and The Tiger Rising, a National Book Award finalist. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

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