Chickpea

the long version

CHICKPEA© (Scholastic Australia) Shortlisted 1998 Children's Book of the Year (Younger Reader) ISBN: 1 86388 642-7 Chickpea is included in The Adelaide Collection, sent by Adelaide Library to Austin Library, Texas. It is also on ebooks.com. Only 55 pages long, it is an engaging story of a motherless boy who lavishes his love on a pet chook - a chook that nearly dies when it persists sitting on infertile eggs. It's a story that will appeal to every child who has ever had or wanted a pet. It's very accessible - some Year 3 students will manage it quite happily - but will not insult Year 7/8 It is also that strangely rare book - one that reflects the multicultural Australian community. It's not a book about multiculturalism; it's a book about a boy and his pet that just happens to remind us of the diversity of Australian life, as very little Australian children's literature yet does. - News and Reviews, Scholastic Australia Pty Ltd. 'There's a warm microcosmic world created here' - Sydney Morning Herald. TO TEACHERS: Chickpea is about love for a pet and love within a family but it is also a vehicle for enlightening children about the difficulties of being a refugee. It might well contribute to class discussions concerning asylum seekers (Source - Author's Website)