news-record.com

Reviewed by Kim Stacks Mills

Everybody has a job to do in Kibbutz Hanan, and Rody has found his niche in the chicken coop. He loves the chickens, and the chickens love him. And so, he earns the name “Chicken Man.”

A National Jewish Book Award winner, the children’s book “Chicken Man” (Author: Michelle Edwards, publisher: Junebug Books: P.O. Box 1588, Montgomery, Ala. (www.newsouthbooks.com; 32 pages – color illustrations throughout, $16.95 hardback) is a “grass is always greener” tale that takes place in a made-up self-sustained Jewish community (or a kibbutzim) in the real-life Jezreel Valley in Israel.

Rody makes working with the chickens look so appealing that another villager comes along and asks to be reassigned to the coop. So Rody moves on to the laundry. He makes that look so good, a villager asks for that job, and Rody gets shifted to gardener.
Rody’s hard work and enthusiasm makes each job seem better than the last. But alas, the egg production from the chickens has come to a halt.

Can “Chicken Man” make his way back to the coop?

This story is filled with Jewish history references, but not so many that a non-Jewish reader can’t enjoy it. The artwork, which includes a labeled map of the village and illustrations of each job Rody takes on, adds humor to the tale.

Parents can use this book to have discussions with their elementary school-age kids about a sustainable lifestyle and living within their means. They can also talk about having a strong work ethic and finding areas in which the kids excel.

One hint: If you’re not up-to-date on your Jewish history, flip to the back of the book first and read the author’s notes from the original printing in 1991 and this second printing from 2007. She sets the scene and gives you all the information you need to enjoy the book without having to Google “Jewish culture.”