Review Detail

Two-Headed Chicken

Kids Fiction 1531

Gooftastic Romp for Fans of Dog Man

October 31, 2022

Overall rating

3.5

Plot

3.0

Characters

3.0

Writing Style

4.0

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

4.0

The two-headed chicken is a brother and sister team, where the brother admits to not being that bright, and the sister is so smart that she invented the Astrocap time travel device. This is helpful in navigating the plethora of alternative universes, which all have goofy properties, and in escaping Kernal Antlers, an enraged green moose who is bound and determined to catch the chicken, fry them and eat them up! The chickens are as determined to escape as Antlers is to catch them, and the whole book is mainly the back and forth between the adversaries. There are a few other characters, like a fish with a mustache who suffers from an inferiority complex, and Granny Goosefoot, who pops in to tell stories. This frenetic romps takes our intrepid chickens to Olde London, outerspace, and into a monster movie universe, barely escaping being fried each time. Will they ever be able to make peace with Kernal Antlers?

Good Points

Angleberger is known best for his slightly quirky Origami Yoda series, but a decade ago also published such goofy titles as Fake Mustache and Horton Halfpott, or The Fiedish Mystery of Smugwick Manor, or, The Loosening of M'Lady Luggertuck's Corset. This graphic novel aims at a slightly younger audience who might enjoy the enthusiastic colors and exaggerated humor. This is certainly a story where lots of things happen right away, even though there isn't as much plot as one might expect. At one point, the "reader of this lousy book" tells the chickens "But it better be good, or I'm reading Stuntboy instead!" The chickens panic. "Oh, no! That book has an actual plot! And the pictures are 100 times better!" The pell mell style of the storyline is definitely reinforced by the chaotic pictorial style.

Thematically, this goes right along with Pilkey's Dog Man books, and will appeal to the same readers. Dog Man is fighting whatever evil he finds, but the two-headed chicken is concentrating on Kernal Antlers. Readalikes also include Trine's Melvin Beederman books and Eaton's Flying Beaver Brothers. I can see this being a popular choice among the elementary school crowd that appreciates a good fart reference as well as never ending knock knock jokes.