Mr Chicken Goes To Paris
The Sunday Age
Sunday August 2, 2009
MR CHICKEN GOES TO PARISLeigh HobbsAllen & Unwin, $24.95Mr Chicken has come a long way. He made a brief appearance in Hooray for Horrible Harriet but this time he's centre stage in yet another clever and engaging picture book by Leigh Hobbs. First a few facts: Mr Chicken wears a tiny top hat and not much else and he's also the biggest (cooked) chicken you've ever seen. Sophisticated and worldly Mr Chicken is not, but an invitation to visit his friend Yvette in Paris proves irresistible. Things start well, Yvette meets him at the airport and a tour of the City of Love begins with a ride on a tourist bus, but as Mr Chicken takes in the sights, the citizens of Paris begin to notice that there's something different about this "tourist". Blissfully unaware of any commotion, Monsieur Poulet visits the Louvre (where hundreds of people gaze in wonder, not at the Mona Lisa but at the biggest fowl in the room), the Eiffel Tower (look out for the King Kong homage) and Notre Dame. Brimming with wry humour, sly detail and tenderness, I don't think I'll ever think of Paris in quite the same way. Here's to a Mr Chicken Goes To New York.
© 2009 The Sunday Age
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