Two-Headed Chicken by Tom Angleberger
Kate Quealy-Gainer · Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books./Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books · 2022
Reviewed by: Two-Headed Chicken by Tom Angleberger Kate Quealy-Gainer, Editor Angleberger, Tom Two-Headed Chicken; illus. by Joey Ellis. Walker, 2022 [208p] Trade ed. ISBN 9781536323217 $12.99 Reviewed from digital galleys Ad Gr.1-4 The mere existence of a two-headed chicken is a wacky premise in itself, but in Angleberger's goofy graphic novel, that anomaly is just one of many in the multiverse. One of the chicken heads is not especially bright (though quite funny), but fortunately the other is smart enough to have invented the Astrocap, which allows them to escape an angry moose, Kernel Antlers, who is intent on frying them for a tasty snack. The contraption takes them through the multiverses, and they become mer-chickens, wizards, and even the Mona Lisa, depending on the logic (or illogic) of their current universe. Kernel Antlers is persistent, however, and eventually the chicken must put its heads together and face its antlered predator. The story starts off the rails then gleefully freefalls into a chasm of chaos, and the jokes (some of which will likely go over young readers' heads) come at a frenetic pace. The energy is initially balanced with commentary from a mustachioed fish [End Page 40] and other direct address asides, but even the chicken heads acknowledge the lack of plot; eventually, the multiverse travels begin to feel like an unending stream of unconnected TikTok videos, amusing but overwhelming. Shifting panel shapes zip readers through the chickens' travels, and the thick lines and exaggerated expressions call up Dav Pilkey's Dog Man, though with a bit more visual detail. Fans of that title or Scieszka's Astronuts (BCCB 10/19) who are willing to overlook the loose narrative and lose themselves in the medley of jokes might appreciate the intergalactic adventures here. Copyright © 2022 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois