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Summary
Summary
On his birthday, Don Schmidt spends the day waiting patiently for his big surprise-- a cake, presents, maybe a Chinese clown . . . . But instead, his batty parents get into their monthly argument. This time it's because his mother has to feed the chickens. It ends with her shouting the same thing as always about their Louisiana chicken farm: "I hate it here!"
What follows is Don's journey from obscurity to fame and back again, when he becomes the youngest kid to ever win the Horse Island Dairy Festival chicken-judging contest. Gradually, his mom notices that something strange is going on--everyone knows her son!--but once she realizes that Don has become the town celebrity, she sees that there may be benefits to living on a chicken farm. What she doesn't seem to see are the benefits of having a son like Don.
For Don, the contest is the beginning of a big, big adventure. It involves trips to New Orleans and Baton Rouge, fair weather friends, a missing sister, and one big secret. Readers will cheer for Don, who goes out of his way to see the good in everything.
Author Notes
JACQUES COUVILLON was born and raised on a farm in Cow Island, Louisiana. Although he has lived in different cities, he will always consider Cow Island as his home. He will not say which, but some of the events in The Chicken Dance may actually have happened to Jacques.
Reviews (3)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 6-9-Don Schmidt, 11, has lived most of his young life in obscurity, still being called "New Kid" by his classmates, even though he has been attending school with them for years. At home on the chicken farm, he's almost as invisible, living in the shadow of his who disappeared, with his birthday going unnoticed by his parents. He keeps track of the fights between his dysfunctional parents, each one ending with his mother declaring how much she hates living among chickens. Don does find some happiness and unexpected notoriety after he becomes the youngest kid ever to win the Horse Island Dairy Festival Chicken Judging Contest. Everyone suddenly knows his name and wants to buy his eggs. Don's life begins to change and family secrets are revealed. On the surface, Jacques Couvillon's novel (Bloomsbury, 2007) is a story about a boy and his chickens, but it soon become apparent that there is a lot more going on. The author grew up on a Louisiana chicken farm, and the descriptions here are spot on. Steven Boyer's portrayal of a boy trying to make a name for himself and become comfortable in his own skin is as charming and heartwarming as the story itself. With distinct voices for each character, Boyer's narration keeps the story moving and captivates listeners.-Stephanie A. Squicciarini, Fairport Public Library, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Guardian Review
Don Schmidt, the narrator of Chicken Dance , is big on chickens. At the outset, we're led to believe that this makes him a slightly weird outsider. How wrong could we be? When Don - whose real name is actually Stanley, but that's the least of his worries - is declared the winner of the Horse Island Chicken-Judging Competition, he becomes an instant local celebrity. And this from a boy whose mother claims to keep chickens for "ambience". In truth, his family has to keep the requisite number of birds to fulfil the requirements of a will. No chickens, no roof over their heads. Don lives in the shadow of Dawn, the big sister he never knew. The house is littered with her dance trophies. While Don's 11th birthday is forgotten, there's Dawn in her "Kiss Me I'm Eleven" T-shirt grinning at him from a photo on a shelf. He's left waiting and hoping for the "surprise cake" that never materialises. Of course, as with many families, the Schmidts are harbouring secrets. No one and nothing is quite what it seems. Don is inclined to share his news - both good and bad - with his chickens. His favourite fowl is KC (as in KC and the Sunshine Band). Mr Bobby Bufford, owner of Horse Island Food and Furniture, helped Don to "rescue" her after she'd retired from the role of Henrietta, the Piano-Playing Hen. In return, Mr Bufford starts out wanting eggs but ultimately takes so much more. He founded Horse Island Food and Furniture on the premise that people will need a table to eat their food off. Not in the Schmidt household, they won't. It's TV dinners on disposable trays. Once Don's mother finally cottons on to the fact that there's a direct benefit for her from his celebrity, she shows more of an interest in Don and even gets him involved in dancing. He hates to dance but loves the extra time he gets to spend with her when practising, especially the physical contact of standing on her feet as she takes him through the moves. (She buys him a pair of special shoes: jazz oxfords.) Soon her role as a singer in the proceedings somehow becomes more important to her than his dancing. We shouldn't be surprised. Don's father, meanwhile, always seems distracted and has never held a job down for long. He has much on his mind. Chicken Dance is set in America - with American spelling - during the late 70s/early 80s and, for an adult reader, the surprises when they come aren't really that surprising, but that's not the point. The point is how Don reacts to these revelations under the circumstances and how much we believe and care - and boy, do we care - because Don and his family have become so real to us. It's a rare skill to be able to bring a fictional family so convincingly to life, and with such humour, too. This is what puts Jacques Couvillon in the ranks of Frank Cottrell Boyce and the Australian writer Martine Murray. By the end of the book we've been so completely and convincingly drawn into Don's world - his family, his on-off relationship with his friend Leon Leonard, his dreams and ambitions - that he lives on beyond the story. And I wish all him the happiness he deserves. In this, his first novel, Couvillon has laid a golden egg. Philip Ardagh's books include the Eddie Dickens adventures (Faber). To order Chicken Dance for pounds 6.99 with free UK p&p call Guardian book service on 0870 836 0875 or go to guardian.co.uk/bookshop Caption: article-ardagh.1 [Don Schmidt] lives in the shadow of Dawn, the big sister he never knew. The house is littered with her dance trophies. While Don's 11th birthday is forgotten, there's Dawn in her "Kiss Me I'm Eleven" T-shirt grinning at him from a photo on a shelf. He's left waiting and hoping for the "surprise cake" that never materialises. Of course, as with many families, the Schmidts are harbouring secrets. No one and nothing is quite what it seems. Don is inclined to share his news - both good and bad - with his chickens. His favourite fowl is KC (as in KC and the Sunshine Band). Mr Bobby Bufford, owner of Horse Island Food and Furniture, helped Don to "rescue" her after she'd retired from the role of Henrietta, the Piano-Playing Hen. In return, Mr Bufford starts out wanting eggs but ultimately takes so much more. He founded Horse Island Food and Furniture on the premise that people will need a table to eat their food off. Not in the Schmidt household, they won't. It's TV dinners on disposable trays. - Philip Ardagh.
Kirkus Review
Eleven-year-old Don Schmidt lives on a chicken farm on Horse Island, La. His parents detest chickens, but are forced to keep them due to some peculiar conditions set forth in a relative's will. Don, who comes to love the chickens, becomes the youngest person to ever win the Horse Island chicken-judging contest and, as a consequence, a local celebrity. As this funny and heartwarming saga about pursuing one's passions unfolds, a mysterious and darker story is revealed. When he stumbles upon a birth certificate that bears his own birth date and an unfamiliar name, Don begins a quest to find out the truth about himself and his sister Dawn. His parents have told him she died years ago from scarlet fever, a truth that will ultimately help him to understand the tensions and unhappiness that have long been the defining characteristics of his home life. Young readers' hearts will ache for na™ve, vulnerable Don as his parents forget his birthday and ignore his victory at the chicken-judging contest, and swell with pride for him as he extends compassion and generosity in the face of complicated revelations and the difficult choices that follow. (Fiction. 11-14) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.