Reviewed by Nean McKenzie
The star of this picture book is an ibis with a large appetite and a random can of tuna stuck on her head. The story, basically about the bin chicken trying to find some food, takes the readers on a journey where they meet some interesting characters, and ends with a satisfying feast. Illustrations of the ibis with her long neck, curved beak and tiny little eyes convey much character as do the seagulls with eye patches and bandannas. The story is written in rhyme which adds to the readability and humour.
After trying a restaurant, the beach, and the fish market (where she
meets an angry pelican), the ibis flies around to look for somewhere else. She finds
a school with a big pile of lunch boxes and the text includes a detailed
description of their likely contents. When humans come into the story, illustrations
only show small parts of their bodies − usually their feet or the tops of their
heads − emphasising that the birds are the important characters. At the end it’s
the sparrow, seagulls, pelican and the ibis who all come together to share a
sumptuous staff morning tea.
Highlights of the story for me include the rhyming of calamari with biryani and who doesn’t love descriptions of food? I also enjoyed the mice in almost every picture – not part of the story but good for spotting with their amusing speech bubbles. The moral of the story, that things are much better if everyone gets along, is a good one. That said, at the end the seagulls were still squabbling over the chips!
Winner Winner Bin Chicken Dinner is a sequel to the book Bin Chicken published in 2020 by the
same authors and illustrator. It’s an entertaining story for children aged 3+ years
and for the parents who read it to them.
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