I've only recently been getting into Lehrhaupt's Chicken books, both picture books and easy readers, and I feel I've really missed out since they're super funny!

In this easy reader adventure, Zoey the chicken (she's the brave, adventurous one) and her best friend Sam the pig (he's the nervous, hungry one) embark on a perilous journey to the North Pole. Along the way they encounter a yeti, sled down a mountain, and Sam helps them find their way back home, courtesy of Zoe's imagination and clever ideas.

Simple, cheerful pictures show a mostly white landscape with splashes of color; the pink pig, colored mittens and scarves, and blue sky. This is a level 1 easy reader in the I Can Read series, which actually is fairly high - for a comparison it's a level I or lexile of 380, meaning it's going to be for readers who can handle fairly complex words and simple sentences, not emerging readers who are still sounding out words.

The conceit of Zoey and Sam's stories, that they go on various journeys and adventures with Zoey's imagination turning a basket into a rocket, an old barn into a school house, etc. is carried out well here. It's simpler than the picture books, so readers don't need to try and interpret the pictures as well as the words.

Verdict: If you're looking for more intermediate readers, this is a good addition to your collection.

ISBN: 9780062364159; Published October 17, 2017 by HarperCollins; Borrowed from another library in my consortium

A chicken named Zoey and a pig named Sam decide to go exploring one snowy day.

This slim volume has clear, succinct language for beginning readers. There is a storyline, although it is relatively slim. I'm not 100% sure that children will understand all the humorous bits (e.g., that the pair of friends think they reached the North Pole when all they did was cross to the other side of the fence). Apparently the book is part of a series featuring Zoey, although nothing on the book indicates that. Instead it just seems odd that the title includes only Zoey even though Sam is there by her side for the entire story. ( )

Zoey the chicken and her best piggy-pal Sam, whose adventures began in the picture-books Chicken in Space and Chicken in School, return in this third story, this time setting out for the North Pole. Advised by Clara the cow to wear their mittens, they oblige, although not in the way she intended. Fortunately, Sam's mitten unravels as he and his gallant galline friend go a-wandering, leaving them a return route when they have finally reached their destination...

Like its predecessors, Chicken in Mittens pairs an amusing tale from American author Adam Lehrhaupt, and expressively droll illustrations from Israeli illustrator Shahar Kober. Unlike its predecessors, this tale of Zoey and Sam is an early reader, rather than a picture-book. I was impressed by Lehrhaupt's text, given that this is his first foray into the form, and found myself chuckling quite a bit at the back and forth between the two main characters. Recommended to fans of Zoey and her imaginative adventures, and to anyone looking for entertaining new early readers. ( )