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Summary
Summary
When the people of Squawk Valley find themselves without a turkey for their Thanksgiving feast, they hatch a plot to lure one into town: They'll advertise for a "model" turkey to pose during a turkey-themed arts-and-crafts fair. Once the model is finished posing, he'll make the perfect main course for the Squawk Valley Thanksgiving feast. But the citizens of Squawk Valley don't plan on meeting up with a turkey as sly as Pete--a bird so clever, he just may outsmart them all!
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-In this rhyming story, Pete, a turkey outsmarts the townsfolk of old-time Squawk Valley as they mask their quest for a Thanksgiving entr?e with the premise of needing a feathered model for a themed arts-and-crafts fair. Angular cartoon people, done in watercolor and gouache, create turkey sculptures of potatoes, rope, oatmeal, and soap, as well as collages and portraits. This variety of presentation makes it easy for Pete to hide temporarily among the exhibits when the moment of truth arrives. The faint typeface is somewhat difficult to read and some alliterative lines ("We'll fill our fair with folks and fun") will twist a tongue during read-alouds. The final page showing a dozen turkeys at the beach is a real champion, capturing various comical expressions and activities. An interactive Web site with games and activities offers entertaining follow-up. A possible storytime companion to Dav Pilkey's 'Twas the Night before Thanksgiving (Orchard, 1990).-Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
"The people in Squawk Valley/ were downhearted and depressed./ Thanksgiving was approaching,/ but without its special guest." All the turkeys have fled town except for one fowl named Pete who responds to a ploy a "model wanted" ad for the local art show. After posing for various sculptors, painters and collage artists, Pete steals off with a turkey made from oatmeal as payment and joins up with his other feathered pals. Shelly's exaggerated settings and caricatures do little to season Bateman's (Leprechaun Gold) prolix delivery and half-baked premise. Ages 4-8. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
Hoping to catch a turkey for Thanksgiving dinner, the sneaky residents of Squawk Valley plan an arts-and-crafts fair with a turkey theme. They recruit Pete the turkey to pose for sculptures, intending to eat him later. But Pete outwits them and uses the many turkey sculptures to screen his escape. The bouncy rhyming story is fun to read aloud, and the watercolor and gouache illustrations heighten the comedy. From HORN BOOK Spring 2002, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
The leaves have changed, Thanksgiving nears-and the canny turkeys of Squawk Valley have decamped, leaving local residents to face the prospect of a birdless holiday. What to do? They decide to lure a bird back by appealing to its vanity, placing a want ad for a model to help sculptors creating turkey art, then "inviting" the bird to dinner. The ploy works, too, for out of the woods struts plump and perky Pete to take on the job. Shelly debuts with brightly hued cartoon scenes featuring pop-eyed country folk and deceptively silly-looking gobblers. Pete may be vain, but he hasn't lost the wiliness of his wild ancestors; when the townsfolk come for him, he hides amidst a flock of sculpted gobblers-"There were turkeys made of spuds, / there were turkeys made of rope. / There were turkeys made of paper, / there were turkeys made of soap. / The room was full of turkeys / in a wall to wall collage. / For a clever bird like Pete / it was perfect camouflage." He makes his escape, and is last seen lounging on a turkey-filled tropical beach as the disappointed Squawk Valleyites gather round the table for a main course of . . . shredded wheat. Good for a few giggles. (Picture book. 6-8)
Booklist Review
Ages 4-7. Squawk Valley residents will be without a turkey for Thanksgiving unless they come up with a plan to lure a turkey to town. They come up with a doozy--a turkey-themed art fair that requires a real-life model to pose for the sculptures. Posters go up throughout the forest, and cocky, clever Pete signs on for the job. He poses for soap sculpture and spud sculpture, even oatmeal sculpture. On Thanksgiving Day, the townsfolk are ready to drop the pretense and pop Pete in a pot, but he has wisely flown the coop, using the faux turkeys as camouflage. As one person notes as folk gather around to eat, "Right now I'm thankful / that we still have shredded wheat." The longish text is in rhyme, but it scans remarkably well, using wordplay to highlight the humor. The illustrations, in autumn hues and executed in gouache and watercolor, are at their best whenever plump, perky (and perceptive) Pete is on view. --Ilene Cooper