Hattie, Tom, and the Chicken Witch: A Play and a Story

Hattie Rabbit

by Dick Gackenbach

A story about Hattie's efforts to put some rabbits in Tom's Easter play contains within it a play, complete with stage directions, about why Easter eggs are colored, starring a clever chicken witch and a greedy pig

Genres: Juvenile, Picture Books, Childrens

63 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Dick Gackenbach, the illustrator of all the Adam Joshua Capers, is also the author-illustrator of more than a score of books of his own. Mr. Gackenbach lives in Washington Depot, Connecticut.

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hattie and Tom Rabbit return in this fourth early reader devoted to their adventures from author/illustrator Dick Gackenbach. In the initial story, What, No Rabbit?, Hattie is outraged to discover that her brother Tom in putting on an Easter play with no roles for rabbits—after all, rabbits are important to Easter!—and she sets out to tell him that he has made a mistake. Rebuffed, she is nevertheless given behind-the-scenes work, and when her friend Linda Chicken is injured right before the performance, Hattie steps in as the play's Storyteller/narrator. The story is followed by The Easter Play itself, in which a group of hens try to protect some of their eggs from the rapacious Captain Dan, the Fried Egg Man—a porcine cook with whom they have an agreement. Despite having agreed to give Captain Dan all their eggs, the hens want to save some for Easter, and when this customer won't compromise, they enlist the help of Chicken Licken the witch to outwit him, thereby leading to the creation of the first decorated Easter eggs...

Published in 1980, Hattie, Tom, and the Chicken Witch: An Easter Play and Story is an I Can Read book, and is the fourth entry in Gackenback's five-volume Hattie Rabbit series. It is also the longest, containing a story and play, unlike its predecessors, which contained two brief stories each. As it happens, it is this title which drew me to the series in the first place, as it contains a witchy character, and witchy picture books and early readers are a pet project of mine. I wouldn't say that the role of Chicken Licken here was a central part of the book—she appears briefly in one short section of one part of the book—but it is certainly unusual to see a witch in an Easter title at all, so that was interesting. The story itself, with its unusual take on how decorated Easter eggs got started, was also interesting, and the accompanying artwork had the same vintage charm as the other books, with a cartoon-like style and a limited number of color washes. Recommended to anyone seeking beginning readers with quirky tales, or unusual Easter plays for children.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty wild, especially the pictures. Chicken Licken is a superhero hen with witchy powers? And the hens don't mind giving some of their eggs to The Fried-Egg Man but want some for cake and for Easter? ('Babies' are mentioned in one exchange, but only briefly and not explicitly.)

I just never know what Gackenbach's imagination is going to come up with next. Something fun, but what....

[Kayleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's not every Easter story that has a witch in it.

This is an I CAN READ book from 1980. It has nothing to do with the religious holiday. Really bad vintage capitalism vs socialism story about greed and narcissism, and everyone gets along in the end. But then, we were the generation to whom Hollywood passed off Tom trying to kill Jerry as entertainment, so it fit the times I suppose.

[Monica Loftus · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a story about an Easter play and who is more important to Easter, the chicken or the rabbit.

[Kest Schwartzman · Rating 3 out of 5]

in which Hattie Karens her way into a leading role, but also there's a superwith chicken in a wifebeater and pantaloons, so..... it balances out?

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been on a mission for a while to collect books that I remember from my childhood, mainly ones that I remember from my grandmother's house. I had a little list and have been working on collecting them as I find them. This one wasn't on my list, but as soon as I saw it, it flashed into my memory quite strongly. It's a cute little story for Easter and I'm so glad that I found it.