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At the start of "The Hoboken Chicken Emergency", we learn that no one in the Bobowicz family likes turkey, but they eat one on Thanksgiving anyway because that's what you're supposed to do on Thanksgiving. This is our first clue that Mr. Pinkwater is on the trail of something more than a farce about colossal rampaging poultry. This is a novel of ideas, one that's intended to pry into young minds and make them question their assumptions.
Later in the book, we get a political scandal. The mayor of the town hires Tony, an out-of-town chicken-catching expert. He looks legit, and he talks big, but can Tony actually deliver what he promises? If children take the lesson of this chapter to heart, they'll be better prepared for a world full of cons and scam artists. And who can argue with that? Come to think of it, most adults I know could also use such preparation as well.
Children's literature is in a low, with nonsense like the "Captain Underpants" series that does little more than reward kids for being vulgar and boorish. "The Hoboken Chicken Emergency" is one example of an author standing against the current. It's appropriate for all ages.
2 Factually inaccurate
If I were in Hoboken, having a Chicken Emergency, I wouldn't panic. It is hard to feel empathy for Arthur, the main character in this engaging but factually inaccurate Thanksgiving tale by Daniel Pinkwater, as he bumbles his way from one disaster to another. The premise that not a single shopkeeper in the whole of Hoboken has a turkey in their freezer is, at best, far-fetched. At worst, it is factually inaccurate and a damning incitement on Pinkwater's research whilst writing this book. This reviewer knows for a fact that Sandra D's Mini Mart, 453 5th St, had a freezer full of plump gobblers last Thanksgiving, and had Arthur visited King's Super market, 1212 Hudson St, he'd have found cranberry sauce as well. I'm all for warming, cheery tales of triumph over tragedy, but when they're this sloppy with the detail, they're hard to swallow. My nephew's first comment when he read this book was "I done a guff", and, quite frankly, I think that says it all. Disappointing.
3 Not the best of Pinkwater, but still a great book
I didn't enjoy this book as much as Lizard Music or the Snarkout Boys and the Avacado of Death, but I found it on the whole to be a very enjoyable read... Much reccomended for Pinkwater fans, and seems to be a popular first book for people who've never read any D.M.P.
4 Started out well, but lost something near the end
This started out very funny in the first chapter and then never came close to that again. My son liked it, but he's 7. It was good to read around Thanksgiving time which is when we read it, and it plays into one of the Time Warp Trio Books, Summer Reading is Killing Me, which is why we got this book.
5 Chickens Need Our Love!
The Hoboken Chicken Emergency was a really good book. It is a good book for third grade and up to read on their own. It takes place in Hoboken, New Jersey around Thanksgiving. It's about a boy named Arthur who goes to look for a turkey for Thanksgiving. The problem comes when he can't find one. Instead he ends up getting a 266 pound chicken named Henrietta. Arthur tries to keep the chicken as a pet but it runs away. Henrietta (the chicken) feels unwanted and creates diasters all over town. Read the book to find out what happens next. We thought the book was hilarious, funny, and exciting. We are nine and ten years old and we liked the book alot!
6 i want to read this again...
i remember reading all the daniel pinkwater at the publiclibrary from 2nd to 3rd grade. hoboken chicken emergancy was thefirst one i checked out. i liked arthur, and i really likedhenrietta. i wanted a chicken too. if you're a parent, i totallyrecommend buying this book and reading it to your kids.
7 i want to read this again...
i remember reading all the daniel pinkwater at the public library from 2nd to 3rd grade. hoboken chicken emergancy was the first one i checked out. i liked arthur, and i really liked henrietta. i wanted a chicken too. if you're a parent, i totally recommend buying this book and reading it to your kids.
8 BIG Chicken Story!
Arthur Bobowicz of Hoboken, New Jersey is given $16.00 and the important task of buying this year's Thanksgiving turkey, a really big one, since the entire family will be coming for Thanksgiving dinner. But when he gets to the meat market, there are no turkeys left...no chickens or ducks or fowl of any kind. As he walks the streets trying to figure out what to do, he comes across a sign in an apartment house window, Professor Mazzocchi Inventor of the Chicken System, and thinks to himself that this looks promising. The Professor tells him he's in luck, takes his money, hands him a large chicken and slams the door yelling, "No refunds!" Unfortunately, what Arthur is holding is not a dinner chicken, but a 266 pound, live chicken wearing a leash, named Henrietta. So begins the Hoboken Chicken Emergency. And when Henrietta gets loose, the real fun begins. Daniel Pinkwater has written a very imaginative, funny, absurd story that's just perfect for 9 and 10 year olds. With fast paced scenes and hilarious story events, your youngsters will be laughing out loud while turning pages to the very end. The Hoboken Chicken Emergency is a classic and a tall tale that's not to be missed.
9 When a Giant Chicken Falls Flat
Before I ordered this book, I read the reviews. I bcame convinced this must be a zany, funny book -- just the thing for my children. So I went ahead and ordered not *The Hoboken Chicken Emergency" only, but a volume of novels by Pinkwater. Oh, well. It's only money (though it could have been better spent elsewhere).
*The Hoboken Chicken Emergency* does have a wonderful premise and some satire as well (hence my pleasure at reading its reviews). I suppose it also has lessons to be learned about fearing the unknown -- but didacticism is not enough to make a good book. Nothing covers up for the fact that this book just plain isn't very good -- not for a modern child to read. I knew I was in trouble when I began reading it aloud to my son: each sentence had a dying fall, and the wit was strained, not spontaneous and fetching. "What am I getting into," I thought. Henrietta the chicken is lost and Henrietta is found, but the whole thing was a contest to see if I could finish the book before my child rebelled -- or I did.
Sad to say, this book shows its age. Some of the writing, too, needs polish. If you are tempted to buy this self-consciously zany book, buy *I Was a Rat* instead. *I Was a Rat* is all heart. *The Hoboken Chicken Emergency* is all lumpy prose. I'm hoping for better things with the other Pinkwater volumes I purchased, but we shall have to see. I love older rediscovered books, but this one doesn't work. Children expect more depth of story, not just cleverness at the expense of story. I'm very sure readers have fond memories of this book, but memory alone cannot bring the book alive for a modern audience. Give *The Hoboken Chicken Emergency* a pass, and go for a funny book that's meaty with heart and soul. If *I Was a Rat" doesn't appeal, you might try *The Little Prince* (Antoine de Sainte-Exupery) -- my son doesn't really understand it, but he loves it and seems to recognize that there are real issues underlying the surface.
10 A lot of humour and very funny!
Arthur is a boy who lived in New York City. He bought a chicken that was humongous. The chicken was about 12ft and two hundred pounds. Arthur tried to teach it tricks but it didn't work. One day the chicken escaped and it ruined a lot of things.
This book is about being careful about what you buy. It's also about telling the truth. This book is great to read everywhere. It has a lot of humour and it is very funny.
11 Vivid Childhood memories of this book
I remember the first day I found out that there was an actual city named Hoboken; I asked how big their chickens were. This is a book from my childhood that always comes to mind when traveling through New Jersey; it creates fun, vivid images which have lasted 10 years.
12 Great Memories
I remembered this book out of nowhere the other day. I'm now a freshman in college, and I was frying chicken patties at work, and I thought about Henrietta. I do remember really loving that book with the giant chicken on the cover. It's too bad it's out of print.
13 A great introduction to the fantastic world of Pinkwater.
This short tale of a kid in Hoboken is a great introduction to the fantastic world of Pinkwater, on par with his classic Fat Men From Space. Juvinile and zany, but with classic themes and deft efficiency of prose that will be appreciated outside of the targeted elementary age group. Illustrated by the author, with the same blunt and juvinile, and at once refined, efficiency of his literature