How to Hatch a Reader - Kari Ann Gonzalez - ★★★★.¼

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AUTHOR: Kari Ann Gonzalez
ILLUSTRATOR: Rachel Suzanne
GENRE: Children's Picture Book.
RATING: 4.25 stars.

In a Nutshell: An egg-cellent picture book filled with enjoyable learning.

Learning to read is an exciting plus scary prospect, but teaching to read is equally difficult. This book works for new learners as well as those who are teaching them to read, giving them simple techniques and a basic idea of milestones to reach on this journey towards textual grasping.

Written in second person addressed to the reader, this delightful picture book offers step-by-step instructions on how to train your chickens to read. Why train chickens, you ask? Well, aren’t they always going “b-b-b-book”? 😉 Going from letters to common words to guessing word pronunciations based on their sounds, the book provides a technique to its own readers about how they can learn to read with the help of their guardians.

The story itself is quite entertaining. There are plenty of humorous moments, courtesy the little girl’s tendency to make birdy booboos, such as showing her dear feathered friends a book about ‘deviled eggs.’ But as most of her approach is lighthearted and positive, it shows how pleasant a difficult task such as reading can be, if handled with the right attitude by both the learner and the teacher.

The story is written in simple prose. (Thank God for no rhymes!) There is plenty of wordplay, some of which are puns connected to chicken and eggs. While this demonstrates the author’s “eggceptional” creativity, I think adults will enjoy the puns even more than kids as there are so many hidden jokes that we will recognise and they won’t, such as ‘chicken scratches’ and ‘fowl’ language. At the same time, the book definitely will be hilarious to read aloud because there are many chuckle-worthy situations, especially with the refrain of “Sorry, Chickens!”

What furthers the fun quotient is the amazing illustrations, which are in a combination of digital and pencil art. The cover itself indicates the cuteness of the graphics. The hens and the little girl are sweet enough, but don’t forget to keep an eye out for the fox who appears on almost every page. There are many hidden Easter eggs also such as the title of the books the girl holds. Kids are sure to have a jolly time with the illustrations.

At the end, there is a page of instructions and online resources that can be used a beginners tools for reading.

Overall, this is definitely a great book for beginner readers to feel motivated about this new challenge in their lives, while also providing the adult readers a simple guideline of how they can begin teaching their wards. The content makes the book suitable to all early readers who are taking their first foray into independent reading.

My thanks to Gnome Road Publishing and NetGalley for the DRC of “How to Hatch a Reader”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

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