Kids will cackle over rubber chicken's fowl language

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What do you do when someone gives you a really weird present?

If you're a polite kid, you smile and say "Thank you." No matter what you think about it, your Mom or Dad probably taught you that you should find something nice to say to the person who gave you the gift.

When Lisa and Nate Zupinski get a very strange gift from their brother, they don't know what to think. In the new book "Supernatural Rubber Chicken: Fowl Language" by D.L. Garfinkle, illustrated by Ethan Long, "Thank you, Dave" just doesn't seem like the right thing to say.

It was a horrible day at school, and Lisa and Nate were just happy to be home.

At the Zupinski house, the twins' clueless, constantly-working mother, a famous and very untalented children's book writer, was hard at work. The twins' big brother Dave was sleeping on the sofa with a surfing magazine over his face. When Dave woke up, he announced that he was going on a trip to surf faraway shores, Dude. But first, he had something important he wanted to give the twins.

Dave took Lisa and Nate into his bedroom. There, on the unmade bed, on a stinky pair of boxer shorts, lay a filthy, rubber chicken. Dave told the twins that it was supernatural and could talk! He said that the chicken would give superpowers to the first person who touched it. The owners get to pick the superpower because they were immune.

The twins were skeptical. A rubber toy that could talk? Yeah, right.

And then the chicken started to talk. He yelled at the twins until Nate said not to holler. He demanded to be picked up until Lisa made him say "please." He was filthy until Lisa gave him a bubble bath. And he indeed had superpowers.

Lisa wanted her shy friend Ashley to have supercharm. Nate wanted his not-so-smart friend Ben to have superbrains. The twins fought over which friend would touch the rubber chicken first. Neither of them thought it would be the school bully Hulk Paine.

"Supernatural Rubber Chicken: Fowl Language" isn't fine literature. It's probably not going to win anything except kids' hearts. It's not going to sit on the shelf much, either.

This book is a funny, quick read that's a gentle challenge for middle-graders. The author has created a trio of characters that your kids will love. And since this is the first in a series, it's going to have kids clucking for the next.

If your 7- to 10-year-old is squawking about reading this summer, chick out this book. "Supernatural Rubber Chicken: Fowl Language" will have them crowing.

Terri Schlichenmeyer's book reviews appear weekly in the View. She can be reached by e-mail at bookwormsez@gmail.com.