“Five stars– A brilliant book to be enjoyed by anyone not defined by age. This book brought tears of laughter from my 80 year old mum. Thank you.”
“The text is an absolute delight to read aloud, the illustrations are beautiful and bright, and the story is silly in the best way.”
“Whitney and Britney are marvellous chooks, fluffy and silky with stunning good looks…”
We love chickens in our house, and I’d always wanted to do a chook picture book. Then one day, inspiration came. My friend Mel and I were discussing care of chickens at our school. Soon, we got onto naming the chooks… I had Beatrice and Eugenie, while our neighbour had received one of our chooks whom he’d re-named ‘Lucinda’. Mel told me about her friend Manu, and his chooks….Whitney and Britney!
There had to be a book in that! I could picture the divas already (some chickens are naturally glamorous) so tried several approaches over many months, before going for a simple storyline in rhyme. Writing in rhyme is tricky but so much fun, and then of course the glamorous chickens needed glittery illustrations – an absolute joy for an illustrator to put together!
So I’d already had a great time doing this book. Then, just before we were about to go to print, Scholastic called to say Whitney and Britney had been chosen for National Simultaneous Storytime (NSS). I was all of a flutter (apologies…)
YABBA Awards Nominee 2021 and 2022!
Meet Whitney:
Whitney is a gorgeous chook who likes: aquamarine, sequins, putting on bling, Pink, Greta Thunberg and biodegradable glitter!
Meet Britney:
Britney is a fabulous chook who likes: purple, spandex, dressing up, Beyoncé, dynamic female leaders and ethically-sourced feather boas!
These lovely chickens are DIVAS - in the very, very best way!
And the chooks were all over the Australian and New Zealand Media on the 27th May 2020, as schools, families, presenters and even the Governor General got out their BOAS and BLING for…
NATIONAL SIMULTANEOUS STORYTIME.
In May 2020, over 1.2 million people all read Whitney and Britney Chicken Divas together!!
This is me with the lovely Emma Watkins, who read Whitney and Britney Chicken Divas for Storybox Library - get a preview here!
And you can watch the wonderful Denise Scott (and Henny Penny) reading Chicken Divas, if you’re in Australia, on ABC i-view.
“… this picture book has been selected as the official book of the National Simultaneous Storytime in May 2020, and with good reason. It lends itself to reading aloud and to fabulous dress-up opportunities. This book will be popular in primary school and public libraries, and in home collections everywhere. ”
“What an absolute delight this book is! ... Everything is over the top, as it should be in this outrageous romp – the costumes, the expressions, the colours. There is humour for everyone... It is destined to be a great success as it delights all readers, young and old.”
“Lucinda Gifford excels at anthropomorphic tales bubbling with rhythmic cheek and mirth. Chicken Divas is a sequined-saturated mash up of Priscilla Queen of the Desert meets Chicken Run portrayed in candy-store colours guaranteed to blind you with bling and amuse the stuffing out of under fives.”
“The rhymes are simple and easily flow with the story, the melody and rhythm of Gifford’s writing making reading effortless with help from fun formatting to promote emphasis and exaggeration.
The illustrations are also wonderfully fabulous.”
