Picture: by Walker Books
Catch that Chicken!
from Atinuke
illustrated by Angela Brooksbank
ISBN: 9781406363616
Published: 02 Jul 2020
Walker Books
Price: £12.99
Germany15,99€
for U.S /CAN Candlewick Press
suggested retail price (U.S./CAN):
$16.99 / $22.99
Being fast is not always everything
An enchanting story from an African village
for children from 3 years
The charming storyteller Atinuke, herself born in Nigeria, likes to tell stories about the lives of children in her home country.
As a child she grew up in the south-west of Nigeria until she first came to a boarding school in England and later lived with her parents in England. Today, her native country is Wales but the people of her roots live in each of their stories. Anyone who has once listened to her as a storyteller knows with what devotion she tells freely and expressively and captivates both small and large spectators.
But you can also feel this devotion and narration in her printed stories such as the little Lami, which is a very spontaneous bundle of encesities.
Lami lives with her family and many free-running chickens in a small village community and Lami loves to catch chickens. For them, it's just a lot of fun that she knows well. Better than everyone else. No one is as good at catching chickens as they are, but the other children can do other things particularly well. Her sister Sadi can spell well, her friend Fatima can tie the typical little braids and her brother Bilal is on the cow. Catching chickens is hard for them, but Lami can do it all the better. There is only one problem. Lami is far too impulsive and so it happens that she gets injured during a chicken hunt, because she is just after the chicken without thinking big.
Injured she can not catch chicken thinks she thinks and is very sad. Her nana explains to her that it is not a matter of being fast, but of acting with head and mind. Lami should use her mind to catch chickens.
Will she succeed?
This magical story has a big message. If you want to achieve something, you should not just "run" on it, but consider how to make it the smartest to achieve your goal.
Impulsivity is not always the best.Angela Brooksbank captures this wonderful story in beautiful, very authentic colorful pictures that wonderfully show life in the village community, the children's play and also the everyday school life. They are dynamic illustrations in which there is much, a great deal to discover and experience. With great attention to detail, she not only accompanies the story of the story, but also tells through her drawings many small fringe stories, which the children themselves can discover and interpret and comment on. There are pages there we only see one sequence and then again there are double-sided drawings, which almost resemble a hidden object and there are pages that once again visually subdivide several scenes. Especially when it comes to following little Lami, as she is on chicken hunting, one has as a viewer the feeling of being carried away by the fast-paced dynamics of the hunt. It's like the action is happening and we're there live.
At the same time, as spectators from the outside, we also have the opportunity to pause and let individual scenes affect us.
This gives us a great insight into African village life, where commonality plays a major role. The children play together while the big ones do their work. Always with the children playing. Everyone is looking at everyone here. Lami, like everyone else, is part of a large community where everyone is particularly good and brings in their skills and she has her close family relationship.
My reading children love stories of children from other countries. To see how they live and experience that much that seems so different is basically similar.
Through the wonderful illustrations by Angela Brookbanks , which are very authentic both in the action and in the colours, this enchanting story of Atinuke becomes a special, very vivid story, a great book that children all over the world like.
