The Trouble
With Chickens and The Legend of Diamond Lil were written by Doreen Cronin and
illustrated by Kevin Cornell. Each book
offers an adventure of JJ Tully, a former search and rescue dog with skills to
track and rescue, but with an aging body.
The books offer short chapters with frequent hand drawn
illustrations. The books are perfect for
2nd and 3rd grade level readers.
Kids will enjoy the antics of JJ and his other pet and animal
friends. While some books this level are
too mature in content or too babyish in language, this series offers a happy
medium that will engage younger readers in a story perfect for the
age-set. (And I mean that with sincere
praise!)
In The
Trouble with Chickens, we are introduced to JJ in his country home. He moves at a slow pace for a former search
and rescue star, but still has sharp instincts.
In this installment of the series, JJ meets a family of chicks and
mother hen. He plays detective and
discovers that there is a plot that puts the chicks and himself in danger. It’s
all intrigue without being scary. The
book is funny too, with little jokes via dialogue between the characters.
In Legend of
Diamond Lil, which I actually read first, JJ continues to play guard dog to the
chick family. This time he is distracted
by a new to the neighborhood female dog.
JJ tried to keep his mind on the business of keeping the chicks safe, but
knows there is something suspicious about the new girl. Several character continue from the first book. The mystery in this book had a
few twists and turns, but was also guess-able.
Kids like that. Having read this
one first, the books could be read out of order and still enjoyed.
Late
Elementary students are in need of books like this. Each book is about 50 pages long, very readable with excellent vocabulary. I might put it on the level of Magic Tree
House series as far as readability and interest. Students who like animals, humor, mysteries, and possibly danger will enjoy these books. Recommended for Reading Levels 2nd
and 3rd grade.
Oh, I need to check these out! I'm familiar with Doreen Cronin as a picture book author and the "Diary of A..." non-fiction books, but I didn't know she'd also written short chapter books. Thanks for sharing!
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