Surfer Chick

by Kristy Dempsey, Henry Cole (Illustrator)

Overview

“Two birds of a feather, a chick and her dad, lived by the shore, in a radical pad. A legend in surfing, Chick’s dad ruled the Roost. Chick’s dream was to learn every move he produced.”
So begins the story of a little chick and her dad who take to the beach so she can finally learn how to surf. At first Chick’s mood is foul as she struggles through some gnarly waters, but soon she is catching waves on her own board and even doing righteous tricks, just like her rad dad!
Filled with cool surf lingo, this sweet rhyming picture book is perfect for summer at the beach and for celebrating the love between a father and a daughter.

Praise for Surfer Chick

STARRED REVIEWS

“A most expressive chicken makes a splash in this winning title about learning to surf. Dempsey keeps her groovy, rhyming text tight to create a raplike beat that colorfully describes a young chick’s adventures tackling the waves. A guaranteed ‘Cowabunga!’”
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"This is a sweet, spunky story about perseverance and gaining confidence. Acrylic paint and colored pencil with a hot press watercolor make the sunsets dynamic and bright. Totally awesome!"
—School Library Journal, starred review

“Rollicking, righteous fun.”
–People magazine

AWARD:
HONORS winner: 2012 National Parenting Publications Book Awards

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781419729317
Publisher:	ABRAMS
Publication date:	05/15/2018
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 8.00(h) x (d)
Age Range:	3 - 5 Years

About the Author

Kristy Dempsey is the author of Me with You and two other forthcoming picture books. She lives in Brazil. Henry Cole is the New York Times bestselling illustrator of numerous picture books for children, including Chicken Butt! He lives in Wilton Manors, Florida.

Editorial Reviews

Chick, a long-lashed tan chicken in a green two-piece bathing suit, is determined to make her surfer-star father proud. Peppered with surf lingo, Dempsey’s (Mini Racer) verses occasionally stretch to make their rhymes work; it’s Cole’s (The Kiss Box) expressive acrylic and colored pencil illustrations that give the heroine her irrepressible character and focus the story’s message about determination. The relationship between Chick and her father is sweetly rendered as he teaches her to paddle (“what happened next/ was a foul-tempered battle”) and to stand on her board (“a colossal wipeout”). Cole’s humorous cartoons are particularly good at depicting Surfer Chick’s emotions—a poignant image shows Surfer Chick gathering her courage (“Alone on the sand,/ Chick simply felt chicken”)—and her brave return to the sea results in her inadvertently inventing a new trick. Cole’s inky blue sea, with its dramatic swells, adds to the story’s tension and makes Chick’s victory all the sweeter. Readers faced with trying something new should identify with this heroine—and maybe even start asking parents about surfing lessons. Ages 3–7. Agent: Kendra Marcus, BookStop Literary. (May)

Publishers Weekly

With her board shorts and plucky attitude, Chick is all set to catch the big wave but then: wipe-out! The example of her surfer-dude dad, though, helps Chick to work up her courage for a second and more successful try. Author Kristy Dempsey handles the life lessons of persistence and resilience with a playful touch in this rhyming story, which is sprinkled with surfer words—"righteous," "turf," "shred," "ripping"—that kids will adore. Henry Cole's bright acrylic paintings of this expressive fowl family add to the fun, with details that pop, including Dad's Hawaiian shirt and shag-carpeted surf shop called The Roost. Reviewer: Mary Quattlebaum

Children's Literature - Mary Quattlebaum

PreS-Gr 3—A humorous story of a surfer chick coming into her own. Her dad rules the Roost Surf Shop and has radical skills, and now he's agreed to show the chick his best moves. After she wipes out, she must get the courage to try again. This is a sweet, spunky story about perseverance and gaining confidence. Acrylic paint and colored pencil with a hot press watercolor make the sunsets dynamic and bright. The lively art has a cartoon feel; the waves seem iridescent and jump off the pages. Fans of animation will like this style. The playful rhyming text incorporates plenty of surfer slang like "radical," "bummer," and "gnarly." Not only does this youngster learn to surf, but she also invents some moves of her own. Totally awesome!—Jess deCourcy Hinds, Bard H.S. Early College, Queens, NY

School Library Journal

A most expressive chicken makes a splash in this winning title about learning to surf. Dempsey (Mini Racer, 2011) keeps her groovy, rhyming text tight to create a raplike beat that colorfully describes a young chick's adventures tackling the waves. "Two birds of a feather-- / a chick and her dad-- / lived by the shore / in a radical pad. // A legend in surfing, / Chick's dad ruled the Roost. / Her dream was to learn / every move he produced." Cole chooses a vibrant palette of neon and saturated bright hues that pop against the cerulean blue water found on several spreads. Dad comes off as laid back and oh so cool but offers calm encouragement when Chick has trouble paddling. Children will feel her frustration at learning a new skill and relate to her feeling "[a]lone on the sand, / [she] simply felt chicken. / She rested on shore / till her courage could thicken." Inspired by her dad's "righteous" moves, she heads for the waves and "[chooses] to be brave." The acrylic-paint–and–colored-pencil illustrations humorously capture Chick's every emotion as she battles the water and her fears. But her perseverance pays off, and a "gnarly new legend / has been introduced. // She's fearless and plucky. / She's stoked and she's quick. / She's totally awesome-- / a real Surfer Chick!" A guaranteed "Cowabunga!" (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews