March 24, 2003
Another of James Marshall's beloved books returns, Wings: A Tale of Two Chickens (1986), in which Winnie the chicken, who doesn't read, finds herself prey to a fox. It's up to feathered Harriet to rescue her pal. "There is more here than just a hilarious plot," wrote PW upon its original 1986 publication. "Very real characters, a plug for reading, a warning about strangers and animated, breezy art full of detail. Marshall is in top form here."
May 1, 1986
Wings gets off to a flying start as Winnie, a bored chicken, takes off in a stranger's balloon basket, so she can "live a little.'' Foolish, uneducated Winnie never realizes until the tale's end that the stranger is a fox planning a chicken dinner. But her sensible sister Harriet (who knows about foxes) recognizes the danger and, in a clever disguise, outfoxes the abductor after some madcap shenanigans. But there is more here than just a hilarious plotvery real characters, a plug for reading, a warning about strangers and, above all, animated, breezy art full of detail, expression and humor. Marshall is in top form here.
April 1, 1988
A slick fox almost makes a fricassee out of a chicken named Harriet, in this hilarious tale of adventure and rescue. Ages 3-8.