The Trouble with Chickens: A J.J. Tully Mystery Paperback – January 24, 2012

Completely out of options for 30 minute read aloud sessions during home schooling for my 3rd grade granddaughter, I fished this book out of my planned birthday gifts for her and off we went. She loved this book, wants more from this series (major call-out to the clever author and illustrator), and read aloud much more than her 30 min/day to learn the cliff hanger outcome. The noir mystery tone and hilarious commentary from the main character and the cleverly nicknamed hen and chicks kept her in hysterics. This is a funny, clever, and (at least to elementary age children) suspenseful book I highly recommend. A good listen for grandparents too.

Children's noir might sound crazy but this book from Doreen Cronin and Kevin Cornell is a nifty little mystery great for reading out loud.To set the mood, I listened to Robert Mitchum's Philip Marlowe from Farewell My Lovely and adapted his gravelly delivery for the voice of J.J. Tully, the retired search and rescue dog. J.J. not only is the story's protagonist but also the laconic narrator through all but two of the 23 chapters.So, who narrates the other two chapters? Well, that would be Vince the Funnel, the villainous inside dog, described as "a cross between a dachshund and a lamp." For Vince, I initially considered a Peter Lorre impersonation but settled on Orson Welles' Harry Lime from The Third Man.With the narrative voices locked down, I added one more trick to keep my sons (ages 8 and 6) engaged in the story. We began each chapter with our own film noir soundtrack: da-dum-dum-ta-da-da-dum-dum with a cool finger snap for a beat with a single hi-hat.We read the book over three nights as the boys' bedtime reading. My sons focused mostly on Cornell's illustrations during the first night. My eldest son rolled his eyes as I led the film noir soundtrack into each new chapter. The noir style drew them in slowly. However, the night ended with a highlight, a silhouette of Vince the Funnel at the end of chapter eight.I had to hide the book for the second night, so my sons wouldn't read ahead before I got home from work. The eye rolling stopped. I had two enthusiastic finger snappers at the start of each chapter. They were critics, too. I mixed up a couple names only to be corrected by my six-year old, who flipped back to the book cover and named each chick.My boys woke up and searched the house for the book. They returned from school and searched again. By the time I returned home from work, they met me at the door. Fingers snapping, the third and last night was electric. The boys, sensing a double cross and a cliffhanger for J.J., pushed me through the last six chapters.I won't spoil the ending but, true to form, this whodunit ends with a (family-friendly) twist.Rating: Five stars.BTW: Parents looking for a noir treat of their own would enjoy The Best American Noir of the Century, a 39-story anthology I gave a five-star rating on Amazon in December 2010.

This is a very cute book. I didn't read it to my kids as they are a bit young yet, but I've bought it for kids who are older. A friend recommended it because she and her 7 year old loved it and it cracked them up.

We are completely in love with Doreen Cronin books! We started with The Chicken Squad... and it was our spark. Our upcoming 2nd grader finally fell in love with reading, thanks to these adorable and mischievous chickens! In LOVE - find him under the covers with a booklight giggling about chickens - in love.We're anxiously awaiting the next Chicken Squad book, and in the meantime have started on the prequel JJ Tully Mysteries. Absolutely adorable, and just as enjoyable for parents as for the kids. Our son is working his way through the 2nd Chicken Squad independently, and we supplement by reading the JJ Tully books to him, which are a just a bit more advanced (i.e. less pictures, slightly smaller text than Chicken Squad, but still lots of great illustrations, and nice manageable chapter sizes).

JJ Tully, a retired search-and-rescue dog, is called on by a mother chicken who wants him to find her missing chicks. He sets out to train her remaining chicks on search and rescue skills but he must become move involved than he wanted to find those chicks as well.I loved this story! JJ talks like a 1940's film noir gumshoe. The villain, Vincent the Funnel (is that not a great nickname?), talks like a 1930's gangster. The story is hilarious. Mama chicken and her chicks are precious. It's not just the chicks that learn. I look forward to more in this series.

[The following review is written by my 8 years old daughter.]I choose this rating because I really loved this book .I liked how it started out with J.J getting annoyed by "Moosh",but at the end he didn't dislike her as much.It was a nice happy ending.The part I disliked, was that the chapters were too short.If there were longer chapters, there wouldn't be asMuch chapters.I mostly would recommend this book to my teacher,since she really likes animals.She would think it wouldbe a nice read aloud.This book was a hilarious laugh out loud book

The strength of this book is the characters. Tully, the former search-and-rescue dog turned detective, narrates the story. His names for the chickens are oddly appropriate (Moosh, the mom, Dirt, and Sugar for the chicks). The point-of-view of the story makes it good for a read-a-loud. And while the villain is not hard to identify, there is lots of fun to be had using different voices to match the illustrations and tone of the story.Plot wise there were enough twists and turns to keep me reading, but as other reviewers have mentioned the book is a spoof off of old detective shows and as such has more humor than tension. While the book is certainly not for everyone, I think that I will try it with my second or third graders and see if they like it.

Decided this afternoon to read the book I had gotten for my grandson. It was great. You can hear the 1940's film noir narrator as you read. Love everything about the book including the illustrations. I am going to recommend to all my friends. A great read.

My children loved this book and so did I. Great take on the hard-boiled detective thriller with lots of humour and charm.

Hier ist das Original - in dem der Rettungshund glücklicherweise nicht Barney Bartholomäus Wuff heißt - wie in der gewöhnungsbedürftigen deutschen Übersetzung, sondern ganz authentisch Jonathan Joseph Tully. J.J. in der Kurzfassung.So wie es auch der Untertitel des Buches vermittelt. "The Trouble with Chickens: A J.J. Tully Mystery". Geschrieben von Doreen Cronin im Jahre 2012 und im englischen Orginial um Längen unterhaltsamer, einfach weil der Wortwitz der englischen Sprache soviel besser hier zum Tragen kommt - und davon gibt es reichlich.Auf 120 Seiten - wobei die letzte ein Ausblick auf den nächsten Fall ist - wird erzählt wie ein Rettungshund, der seine Laufbahn aus Altersgründen beendet hat und nun sein Gnadenbrot auf einem Bauernhof bekommt, mit einem höchst merkwürdigen Entführungsfall konfrontiert wird.Eine Henne, Millicent mit Namen und nicht Henrietta wie in der deutschen Übersetzung, braucht seine Hilfe, denn zwei ihrer Küken sind verschwunden. Doch für Tully sehen Hühnchen eher aus wie Popcorn auf zwei Beinen und sie zu finden ist nicht wirklich einfach, besonders wenn ein starker Regen die Duftspur verschwinden lässt und die Henne macht ihn auch ziemlich nervös, weil er zwar noch nie einem direkten in-die-Augen-starren ausgewichen ist, aber ihre Augen liegen so dicht beieinander, dass er selbst zu schielen beginnt, wie es ihm vorkommt.Von der eigentlichen Handlung soll hier nicht allzuviel verraten werden - sie ist bei den wenigen Seiten sehr überschaubar und absolut kindgerecht gestaltet, denn das Lesealter ist zwischen 6 und 10 Jahre angesiedelt.Es ist auch eher die lakonische Erzählweise, die das Buch so amüsant macht, sogar für ältere Leser.J.J., als Ich-Erzähler, gibt die Geschichte im Stile eines abgehalfterten Privatermittlers zum Besten. Für einen Cheeseburger ist er bereit, die verschwundenen Küken zu finden und gerät in den finsteren Plan eines durchtriebenen Gegenspielers. Dessen englischer Name Vince, auch deutlich passender klingt, als Kalle, wie er in der deutschen Übersetzung heißen muss.Das Buch ist wunderschön und reich bebildert von Kevin Cornell der auf geniale Weise illustriert. Die Bilder erzählen die Geschichte auf einer anderen visuellen Ebene genauso eindrucksvoll, wie der lakonische Sprachstil des Hundes.Aufgeteilt in 23 Kapitel plus Epilog, wobei jedes Kapitel zwischen zwei und vier Seiten Umfang aufweist, entwickelt sich eine Geschichte mit überzeugenden Figuren, witziger Handlung und jeder Menge Humor und Action und einer Prise Spannung.Also, wer der englischen Sprache mächtig ist und Spaß hat an wirklich guter Situationskomikund einer lustigen Geschichte, liegt genau richtig. Allerdings sollte man auch nicht mehr erwarten. Doch wenn man keine zu hohen Ansprüche an die Story stellt, wird man bestens unterhalten.Nicht nur für junge Leser geeignet, sondern auch für Erwachsene, die mit der Originalfassung deutlich mehr Freude haben werden, als mit der deutschen Übersetzung.Aus der Reihe um J.J. Tully sind bislang erschienen:1. The Trouble with Chickens (2012)2. The Legend of Diamond Lil (2013)Fünf Sterne, weil der Ärger mit diesen Hühnchen wirklich lesenswert ist und Lust auf die Fortsetzung macht, welche bereits erschienen ist. J.J. Tully ist ein richtig unterhaltsamer Hundedetektiv und es bereitet Freude, seine Ermittlungen zu begleiten. Empfehlenswert.

I bought this book for my 7 year old son. Some of the words are a bit advanced but it is a great story. We read a chapter every night.