Review by Booklist Review
Step aside, Captain Underpants! There is a new hero in town this time, with feathers. Gordon Blue may look like an ordinary chicken and attend ordinary second grade, but he hides a secret: he and his sidekick, Benny, fell into Uncle Quack's toxic sludge and became superheroes. He promises to use his powers to be super nice, super good, and super tidy. His chance to save the day arrives at the Fowl Fall Festival, when chickens begin mysteriously shedding their feathers and must buy itchy wool sweaters from Granny Goosebumps. He engages the grumpy granny, but she quickly traps him with her naughty knitting needles and a cry of, Eat yarn, dearie! Humiliated, he retreats to his bed. Will he overcome his superhero identity crisis and defeat the nefarious knitter? Will his leotard ever stop giving him wedgies? Fresh, funny, and packed with full-color illustrations, this new transitional series will be an instant hit with readers looking for silly fun and a touch of mystery.--Harold, Suzanne Copyright 2014 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 1-3-Gordon Blue and his younger egg brother, Benedict, gain superpowers after taking an accidental dive into giant vat of toxic sludge while visiting Uncle Quack's laboratory. Gordon, aka Kung Pow Chicken, and Benedict get an opportunity to put their powers to the test. A crowd of chickens at the Fowl Fall Festival is suddenly featherless, and glowing cookies found near the scene are suspected to be linked to the crime. Granny Goosebumps, selling sweaters to the featherless victims, is scheming for a way to raise enough money to move to Florida, but Kung Pow Chicken and his faithful sidekick, Egg Drop, step in to save the day. The story is heavily illustrated and the cartoon style pairs nicely with the story's overall feel. Dialogue appears in speech bubbles, and the frequent poultry plays on words are sure to elicit giggles from young readers. This first offering in a series will have broad appeal among independent readers who have outgrown easy readers but are not yet ready for books relying more on text than illustration.-Matthew C. Winner, Ducketts Lane Elementary School, Elkridge, MD (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Second-grade chick Gordon Blue and his younger (not-yet-fully-hatched) brother Benny are accidentally dipped into a vat of toxic sludge that transforms them into superheroes. In these openers, the pair must save Fowladelphia from two different villains. Jam-packed with poultry puns, this transitional series uses language appropriately challenging for emerging readers while retaining a comfort level with a hybrid of traditional and comic full-color illustrations. [Review covers these Kung Pow Chicken titles: Bok! Bok! Boom! and Let's Get Cracking!.] (c) Copyright 2014. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Can Kung Pow Chicken and Egg Drop beat the bad guys and be home in time for dinner? Second-grade chicken Gordon Blue and his still partially egg-bound little brother Benedict are mild-mannered chicks until they fall into a vat of toxic sludge in their uncle Quack's lab. Suddenly, Gordon has birdy sense that tingles when danger is near. He can flap superfast, and his clucks are louder than any chicken's ("His bok [is] worse than his bite"). He promises to use his powers only for good (and to keep his room tidy). Since he's never met a bad guy, he has to do normal chicken thingsuntil everyone starts losing their feathers at the Fowl Fall Festival in Fowladelphia. Could it be Granny Goosebumps' yucky glowing cookies? She's making money wing over fist selling itchy sweaters to all the naked chickens. Soon Kung Pow Chicken is "locked in a battle of knits" with the nefarious Granny and her knitting needles. When she escapes, can Kung Pow Chicken overcome his self-doubt and save the City of Featherly Love? First of four to be released over the course of the next year and part of Scholastic's Branches line of heavily illustrated easy chapter books, Marko's debut is a perfectly puntastic page-turner. Hybrids of comics and traditional pictures, the goofy all-color illustrations propel the fast-moving, high-interest story. "Ham and eggs!"--you don't want to miss this! (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 5-7)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
