Thanks to a passing semi, a chicken crossing the road definitely gets to the Other Side--but rejects the insistence of hovering deer, possum, and other fellow roadkill that it's payback time: "I don't want to haunt anyone, especially not innocent readers who are just trying to enjoy a nice story about an unlucky chicken." Young audiences may have different views, though, and Oswald obliges by crafting cartoon images of spectral wildlife with staring, glaring eyes and sharklike teeth, also making use of page turns to work dramatic, startling changes of size and expression. Climactically, the chicken undergoes just such a transformation that is extreme enough to scare even the other ghosts! Most children will be made of tougher stuff, but a final next-day view of an oblivious squirrel stepping onto the pavement in front of the same truck will provoke more than a few anticipatory winces. A storytime combo with the same-titled spookfests by Mary Jane and Herm Auch (2003) and Bob Morrow and Matt Faulkner (2018) will entail a succession of pullet surprises.

The chicken crosses the road…and arrives on the other side as a ghost. The action kicks off before the title page when the chicken crossing the road winds up a splatter of feathers against the grille of a tractor trailer. When its ghost rises from the squished remains, it meets a host of other animal ghosts that encourage the new poultrygeist to start getting scary. They probably didn't realize, however, that they'd be the ones to be frightened. Geron's text is full of punny lines like "It's time to get foul, fowl!" and "Ghosts of a feather haunt together!" Midway through, the poultrygeist turns to readers to make sure they're not too scared. This is a nice touch, maintaining engagement while also giving more timid readers time to take a beat. Oswald's illustrations display masterful use of color, with bright, ghostly animals against a dark, often all-black background, the dialogue shown in colors that correspond to the speakers. These ghosts do become scary but not enough to completely terrorize readers. Oswald's skill is seen in full effect, as readers witness only the animal ghosts' reactions to the poultrygeist's scariest face, building suspense for the full reveal. This book is just right for kids easing into the slightly scary and macabre but who still want a safe and fun read. Kid-friendly dark humor. (Picture book. 5-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

A chicken crosses the road, crosses paths with a truck, and gets to..."THE OTHER SIDE" -- the afterlife, that is. The neon-blue shadow of Chicken's former self learns about what's next from new companions, other undead animals. "It's time to get foul, fowl!" these mischief-makers gleefully state. Against the digital illustrations' midnight-dark backgrounds, the brightly colored poltergeists' silliness should prevent young readers from feeling too "weak in the beak" (as a ghostly former-rat puts it). So should Chicken's sentiment: "I don't want to haunt anyone, especially not innocent readers..." It's hard to feel chicken when a book is this clucking hilarious. Shoshana Flax September/October 2021 p.52(c) Copyright 2021. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

K-Gr 2--Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the other side, of course. But what happens when the chicken is suddenly mowed down by a semitrailer truck and wakes up "on the other side"? Geron's debut picture book delivers a fresh take on the classic joke. Puns and ghostly humor will have readers laughing as the chicken awakens to a new reality that takes a turn for the worse when our hero is approached by a pack of ghouls, veterans on the other side, waiting with a spooky assignment. "Your goal, now that you're a ghoul, is to turn someone's sunny side up…into sunny side down." Chicken doesn't want to haunt others, but preschoolers will love the mayhem that ensues when the protagonist accidentally scares away the pack. The dark palette and exaggerated illustrations are clever and ghoulish, and young readers will be fascinated by the intricate details of each sketch. VERDICT An ideal Halloween read-aloud and great for children with an appreciation for the macabre.--Maegen Rose, Rye Country Day Sch., NY

When a chicken gets hit by a truck while crossing the road, it ends up on a very different "other side" than intended. Told by a passel of roadkill-turned-ghosts that its new job is to scare people ("It's cock-a-doodle-BOO! Time for you!" declares a ghost raccoon), the mild-mannered chicken meta-demurs. "But I don't want to haunt anyone, especially not innocent readers who are just trying to enjoy a nice story about an unlucky chicken," it says, adding sotto voce in an audience aside, "Pssst! Are you OK?" Fed up with being bossed around, the chicken loses its temper--and, while insisting that it's not scary, frightens its ghostly comrades. An amusing concept and attendant wordplay ("Show a little pluck, Cluck!") by debut author Geron gets a big assist from Oswald's marvelous digital illustrations: intricate, iridescent textures; fluorescent colors; and lots of comic exaggeration evoke a spectral world that's also reassuringly silly. Ages 4--8. (Aug.)