Born To Run Wild!

CHICKS RUN WILD ($15.99, Simon & Schuster, ages 2-6), written by Sudipta Bardan-Quallen and illustrated by Ward Jenkins, really tickled guest reviewer Lindy Michael’s fancy! Find the enthusiastic Lindy at BookStar on Ventura Blvd. in Studio City and she’ll take you right to where a copy of this terrific new children’s book can be found.

I think we all know how hard it is to get a wee one to go to bed, especially if they don’t want to, which as a parent and grandparent, I know is almost all of the time. After yet another story, another drink of water, another song, how many times have we kissed our child’s forehead, hoping, beyond hope, for not another peep out of them?

Well! What if you’re a mama hen with five little chickies, none of whom want to lay their little feathered heads on their pillows? After mama tucks them in their feathered beds and kisses them for the umpteenth time, then tip-toes out of the room for some much needed rest, yes, those CHICKS GO WILD!

“First they wiggle and they jump
Then they giggle and they thump,
Playing, swaying in pajamas,
when they hear their tired mama…”

Now, of course, like all smart little ones, they fake “catching zees” when mama peeks in the room and is finally satisfied her babies are indeed, asleep. But then, wait for it… CHICKS GO WILD, yet again… and again… and again.

But don’t mess with mama. She has a plan to finally get her babies off to dreamland. And she’s one smart, albeit, weary and worn out mama hen.

After reading this delightful story, I give all of you frustrated and tired and at the end of your rope mamas (and papas, too), permission to definitely try this at home. Then you can drag your exhausted selves onto your living room couch and run wild, also, just like mama hen does!

The very versatile (and energetic) Lindy Michaels aims to inspire young minds through children’s literature. Lindy owned L.A.’s first children’s bookshop, OF BOOKS AND SUCH (1972-1987) where she did storytelling, taught drama to children, had art and poetry contests and the like. According to Lindy, “It was truly a ‘land of enchantment.” She also spent years lecturing on realism in children’s literature at colleges in the state. For close to five years Lindy has worked for Studio City Barnes and Noble (BookStar) in the children’s section and does storytelling every Saturday at 10:30 a.m.