Reviewed by Dannielle Viera
Ibis follows a bus full of kids to a sports ground, where an athletics carnival is about to start. She sees her cousins, and is almost struck by a shot put. Then she flies off to a sandpit, where a long jumper nearly lands on her. Finally, she crashes into a heap after bouncing off the high-jump mattress. Tasty goodies at the canteen soon draw her attention, and Ibis runs away with a boy’s baguette. The race is on – Ibis passes the bread baton to her cousins to avoid the boy’s outstretched hand. Team Ibis wins the contest, but the prize isn’t a medal – it’s ‘sharing a meal with new friends and old’.
Fans of Kate and Jol Temple’s Bin Chicken series will love this action-packed book with humour. Rhyming couplets spring easily off the tongue, while a cheeky little mouse tosses up some pun-tastic comments that deserve a place on the wordplay podium. Although the book is aimed at three- to seven-year-olds who might not have had much experience with traditional sports days, the slapstick in the scenes will keep them laughing from spread to spread.
Ronojoy Ghosh’s bright illustrations reflect the fun of the text, while the subtle use of vectors keeps the pace going at full pelt from page to page. Small eyes will enjoy seeking out all of the amusing details, from Ibis’s tuna-can hat to the mouse riding on a discus like it’s a flying saucer, and later firing a joke starting pistol.
A
feathery frolic from beginning to end, Bin
Chicken Goes for Gold is sure to
be read again and again. There are no prizes for guessing what youngsters will
yell each time: ‘Ibis, Ibis, Ibis! Oi, Oi, Oi!’
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