19 Aug / Poultrygeist by Eric Geron, illustrated by Pete Oswald [in Shelf Awareness]
Even before the title page, we’ve got a country road, an ambling rooster and a barreling semi – this can’t end well … or can it? What audiences get is hilarious fun, because author Eric Geron and illustrator Pete Oswald are about to crack every crossing-the-road chicken joke (and then some!) in their outstanding Poultrygeist. The intended audience might be children, but their adults will likely have an even better time.
“What happened,” the chicken asks – his spirit hovering over a flattened, white-feathered body newly blackened with tire tracks. Levitating eyeballs are more than happy to enlighten: “Well, what’s the last thing you remember?” The chicken replies, “I remember crossing the road to get to the other side” – of course! But this is a rather different “OTHER SIDE,” and one “Beeeak!” confirms the chicken’s sudden realization that he’s “fried,” “roasted,” “cooked,” “in the soup” – a POULTRYGEIST. His fellow spirits attempt to make him a “foul” fowl, but the newbie would rather be a “friendly ghoul,” showing concern that young readers might become too frightened. (“Pssst! Are you OK?” he considerately asks readers.) He refuses to be bullied into being scary … uhhh, but then why is everyone running the other way? And what of the hapless squirrel?
Geron, an already prolific author under his pseudonym, Rico Green, is serendipitously paired with artist and production designer Oswald (Rita and Ralph’s Rotten Day). The dynamic duo absolutely know how to entertain, Geron with the clever, multilayered phrases (“cock-a-doodle-BOO!”; “ghosts of a feather haunt together!”), Oswald with the colorful and expressive, digitally created ghouls and goblins ready to engage and captivate from the OTHER SIDE. The result proves supernaturally spooktacular.
Discover: A chicken crosses the road but doesn’t quite get to the other side – at least not without being flattened by tire tracks – in the cleverly captivating Poultrygeist.
Review: “Graphic Books,” Shelf Awareness, August 17, 2021
Readers: Children
Published: 2021