LitPick Review
The Mootants vs the Unstoppable Mega-Chicken by Derek Taylor Kent features the story of Kyma and her friends, a herd of calves living in a quiet, peaceful farm. Kyma is tired of her confined life in the farm; she wishes to explore the world beyond the fence and lead an extraordinary life. Her wish begins to come true as she, along with her friends, gains superpower through Blooze, the insane invention of a scientist called Dr. Eggsplatt who has been made to believe that he is a chicken. Dr. Eggsplatt aspires to initiate an era of chicken domination by overthrowing the humans but things soon get out of control. With a crazy mega-chicken on loose, it is up to Kyma and her fellow calves, the Mootants, to save their human friends.
Opinion:
Being narrated from the point of view of a cow, the hilarious, fast-paced story is a unique and amusing read. At the beginning, the reader is addressed several times by the narrator, which is a good technique to engage them with the story. Besides, the amount of text in most pages is little to moderate, and it is once again an effective trick to make sure that the reader does not grow weary.
The illustrations, in spite of being colorless, are clear and attractive enough to grab the reader's attention. Most of the pages are dominated by illustrations to help the readers visualize the story. Many of these illustrations include speech bubbles, which allowed the author to reduce the amount of text. As the synopsis claims, the book is indeed a fair pick for readers who are transitioning from picture to chapter books.
The most important message that the story delivers is that greed eventually results in disaster. Besides, it also celebrates caring for and standing up for one's friends and family. At last but not the least, it can encourage readers to cling to their aspirations.
The only thing that I would like to point out is the use of the phrase "the hottest hide and the upworthiest udders" in a pageant for calves. As calves are basically 'child' cows, some may find it inappropriate, especially in a children's book.
The aforementioned issue aside, it was a fun read. Recommended for children of the age-group 8-12.
