posted on 29 Oct 2017

Rooster Wore Skinny Jeans by Jessie Miller, illustrated by Barbara Bakos

This bold and colourful book for younger children tells the tale, in rhyming couplets, of the fashion-conscious Rooster and his new pair of skinny jeans.

Having ordered his new jeans on the internet they arrive by super-fast delivery in a box that he can’t wait to open. The jeans are just great – not too big and not to tight – and out he struts into the farmyard just waiting to be admired.

But, oh dear! That’s not what happens at all!  The other animals take one look at him and start to laugh or make cruel comments about his skinny chicken legs. Humiliated, he dashes off to nurse his bruised ego, hiding from all the others and feeling dismal.

Then, after a while, he finds himself standing in front of a mirror and thinks that maybe he doesn’t look so bad in his new jeans after all. In fact he looks great! He determines he’s not going to hide his light under a bushel and that he’s going to take no notice of the negative comments – he feels great and that’s good enough. In fact he’s so emboldened that he goes up onto the roof and crows about his presence and his show of confidence draws cheers from the other animals.

And:

Later that night, as the farm lay to rest,

The rooster pre-ordered a gold sequined vest.

What Jessie Miller has produced for youngsters is a story about confidence and self-esteem; a lesson about personal confidence and not listening too much to people who want to dampen down your own unique personality.

Barbara Bakos creates a delightful cartoon farm and somehow manages to give Rooster a very tangible personality. The colours are luminous and the drawings will certainly entrance younger children and I can see that this is a book that will be a popular with adults when they read with their children – the rhyming couplets make it easy to set up the rhythm of the story and there’s lots in the illustrations to talk about too.

Another hit from the Maverick stable.

Terry Potter

October 2017