Starlight Goes to Town
by Harry Allard
illustrations by George Booth
Picture Book
* * * * Stars (Great!)
Starlight the chicken has always dreamed of being a high fashion model in Milan, Italy, but she’s stuck in rural Tennessee. After numerous complaints she is visited by her chicken fairy godmother who tells her how to get what she wants – all she needs to do is wish hard and lay an egg. Starlight hatches a convertible the next day and heads off to the big city. An egg and a plane later she’s in Milan! Things don’t work out for her so well there (people laugh her off the runway), but Starlight is not deterred. She returns to the states (Connecticut this time) where she attempts to lay a house. Uh-oh. Her fairy god mother has taken a vacation and left her nitwitted nephew in charge of all the wishes! It takes some time, but eventually Starlight manages to lay an acceptable house. She adds the mixed up wishes and their results to her never-ending yard sale. Love this story. This is a chicken who knows how to take the lemons life hands her and make…er, omelettes? Starlight is just so matter-of-fact about everything. She knows what she wants, and once she has the means, she goes out to achieve it. I admire her spirit, her chutzpah, and her google-y eyes. Hilarious, chicken-scratch artwork, and a weirdly lovely story complement each other perfectly.
Reviewed by YA Librarian
