Buy Cheap The Great, Great, Great Chicken War
Buy Low Price From Here Now The Great, Great, Great Chicken War is a richly drawn tale of conflict begun by those who are too afraid, or chicken, to address why they are fighting in the first place. Fully illustrated by David de la Garza when he was five years old and watercolored by his mother, Joyce Rosner, The Great, Great, Great Chicken War presents a child's interpretation of how silly people can be when they fight. The book is designed to help parents begin a conversation about conflict with their children. A portion of the book's profits will be donated to a charity for children who are victims of war or disaster.
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"Imaginative Book for All Age Kids" 2009-05-13
By Child Educator (Wisconsin)
The Great, Great, Great Chicken War
I found this an amazing book - the drawings are by a very talented and imaginative 5-year old (and painted in watercolors by his talented mother). I have read this to very young children who love the rhymes, the repetition, the fanciful creatures;I have also read it to older kids who are intrigued by the drawings but also get the point of the book: fighting and war are not good, they upset the whole world. The reviewer D. Grout thought the book belittled soldiers--none of the children thought the book was saying that soldiers were "chicken," and of course it isn't -- it's saying that the leaders are (see the rooster going off to fight "riding the rhino out the door, angry and eager to settle a score." Kids tell me that the rooster is chicken because he wants to start a fight instead of talking about why he's angry. I believe Mr(or Ms)Grout)was assuming things that weren't in the book. His "monsters" are not the monsters that children fear--they know and love Sesame Street's Cookie Monster and the monsters in "Where the Wild Things Are." Criticizing the rhymes because they are not perfect, that some lines seem to be used for their rhyming rather than perfect sense is what 5-year olds do! They love the sound of the "castaway pumpkins washing up on the sand" -- it seems silly to them and they don't know what castaway even means, but they like it. The idea that children would be better off having "The Diary of Anne Frank" read to them seems a strange suggestion to me, especially for small children. Many older children do read it in school, but Anne Frank and this book are not comparable for any age level. I have found this to be one of those rare children's books that adults also love. I'd like to see what this young artist/story teller comes up with next. Mr. (or Ms.) Grout, please lighten up! See the book as an imaginative, beautifully drawn 5-year old's attempt to understand life.
"A great disappointment" 2009-03-02
By D. Grout (Moscow, Russia)
After all the positive reviews this book has gotten, I expected something with a little more imagination. You can't fault the parents of 5-year-old David de la Garza for crafting a book out of his drawings and thoughts about the very serious topic of human conflict. It's certainly well-intentioned, with a bold red sticker on the front declaring that part of the proceeds will be donated to Medicins Sans Frontieres.
Where it falls flat is as a reading experience. No less than 5 times we see the same exact drawing, and the words, "In the Great, Great, Great Chicken War." Even my five-year-old was put off by this. Some of the drawings are nice, even charming, but most suffer from the dreary technique of computer-shading.
Obviously aiming for a kind of minimalism, the book nevertheless fails to create any memorable images, characters or situations. The hodge-podge verse frequently seems written solely for the sake of rhyming.
War is not trivial. It is not silly. Being willing to kill or die for a cause does not make you a "chicken." Were the minutemen in the American Revolution "chicken?" There are real reasons behind why people pursue armed conflict. Wars are complicated and messy, and often only stop when the destruction reaches an intolerable scale.
There are plenty of children's experiences of war on the internet, for example at www.warchildren.org where parents and teachers can show drawings from kids who actually went through the horror and loss of war. Whimsical abstractions like pumpkins washed up on a shore are cute, but why not read your kids the Diary of Anne Frank instead?
"A Book for All Ages" 2008-04-12
By Laura Protech (WI USA)
The Great, Great, Great Chicken War This is a children's book that all ages can enjoy. The young author - David de la Garza - and his parents have created a book that has gorgeous art with a story that all ages can enjoy. Not only can they enjoy the story-poem for its rhythm and sounds, but also for the story it tells. I bought the book for a five-year-old and discovered that his two-year-old brother was fascinated by the creatures and colors - the art work. And after hearing it read aloud, the five-year-old started talking about the story - about war - and the oldest of the three children, a ten-year-old joined in the conversation and for perhaps the first time, didn't talk down to his younger brother. While the book is not religious, a friend of mine who teaches Sunday School plans to use the book for a class discussion on resolving arguments and disagreements. I think the book is a delight--wonderful art and thoughtful story without it being preachy or sounding "educational." The story-poem has some terrific lines that start with "In the Great great great Chicken War, the rooster rode the rhino out the door, Angry and eager to settle a score"....and the accompanying illustration is imaginary and creative while the rooster atop the rhino is recognizable. I expect this book to become a classic. The Great, Great, Great Chicken War
"from a child's eye" 2007-11-20
By j5
So often adults are the teachers and know it all...it is refreshing and grounding to hear and see things from a child's perspective to allow us as adults to stand back, re-group and open are eyes and say, oh yes, that is what it is all about.
david reminds us all that things such as war so often absurd and lacking in reason and sense. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the grown up decision-makers could stand back and realize the shear magnitude in numbers of innocent victims in so many unthinkable ways and the little that is accomplished with so much tragedy.
" A portion of the profits of The Great, Great, Great Chicken War will be donated to charity for child victims of war or disaster" 2007-10-08
By Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA)
Written by parents struggling to explain the concept of war to their young son, The Great, Great, Great Chicken War is a children's picturebook that presents concepts such as war and fighting in the simplest possible terms. Tackling the idea that sometimes people can be too silly or chicken to talk out their problems and fight instead, The Great, Great, Great Chicken War combines rhyming verse with exaggerated color pictures in a gentle, whimsical style. "In the Great, Great, Great Chicken War, // Rockets filled the sky with a deafening roar, / Criss-crossing a land where peace was no more. // Velociraptors stormed across the isle, / Scorching the land for mile after mile. // And in the deep ocean, where sea creatures sing, / Silent octopus feared what the future would bring." The Great, Great, Great Chicken War is an effective way to open the topic of war with young children, with a subtle message against wars fought for seemingly pointless reasons. A portion of the profits of The Great, Great, Great Chicken War will be donated to charity for child victims of war or disaster.
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