A Piece of Sky - Ann Hunter

Author: Ann Hunter

Narrator: JoBe Cerny

Genre: Children's Fiction, Retelling

Rating: 3.75 stars.

A different take on the children’s classic story of “Chicken Little”, with some divine and mythological influences.

Rós, a little red chicken, is suddenly hit on the head with something small and round, something that looks like a golden acorn. She doesn’t quite figure out what it is. However, she understands that it is not anything ordinary because she has suddenly gained the ability to view creatures around her in colour. Rós is determined to find out what this magical thing is and return it to where it belongs, and sets out on an adventure with her white chicken friend.

Though the story is supposed to be a retelling of “Chicken Little”, it has a lot of shades of The Lord of the Rings series. You have little Rós and her friend going on a dangerous quest to return the ring… oh sorry, the golden acorn… before it destroys the world. Then you have a reference to ENTs, who are trees just like the Ents of LotR but are malicious ones. There is also an undertone of biblical content with references to creation and the Tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden. And finally, there are shades of mythological fantasy, what with fae and kelpie and griffins popping up unexpectedly.

I loved the way the animal characters are sketched, right down to their nature and their emotions. Be it the dog or the mare or the hens, each of them is developed so well that you can’t ever be confused about what creature it is. There are also plenty of humorous remarks in the content, like when Rós tells her friend, “For once in your life, don’t be a chicken!” A few of the jokes are needlessly stretched but most of them hit the funny bone spot on. I especially enjoyed the animal variant of the ‘F’ word – "What the Cluck!” 😂😂😂 (This is a joke only parents will catch, but I hope children don’t begin to go around uttering that phrase. It might become embarrassing! 😂)

Where the book could have worked better for me was in its writing style. There is a frequent shift of perspective between the acorn and the chicken. While this still works as one is in first person and the other is in third person, the shifts are too abrupt at times. Furthermore, the story becomes too complicated towards the end. Younger readers might not be able to figure out what exactly was happening in the finale.

This is supposed to be book four of the “Crowns of the Twelve” series but I found it working very effectively as a standalone. Each book in the series is the retelling of a fairy tale or folklore, so they aren’t interconnected as far as I can tell.

The audiobook clocks at three hours and is narrated by JoBe Cerny. His voice is perfect for the story. He narrates the book like a benevolent grandpa, with all the right intonations and sound effects. His animal sounds are superb. Kids will surely enjoy his narration.

All in all, a nice story. While it didn’t rock my world, it still kept me interested enough to find out what happened next.

I received a complimentary copy of this audiobook from the author through ‘StoryOrigin’ and these are my honest thoughts about it.