Strange Friends! Smell My Foot (Chick and Brain) by Cece Bell

"HELLO, BRAIN," SAID CHICK.

"YEAH, I KNOW!" SAID BRAIN.

"NO, BRAIN. I SAY, 'HELLO, BRAIN!' YOU SAY 'HELLO, CHICK!'"

LIKE THIS," SAID CHICK, FLYING UP ON BRAIN'S NOSE AND REPEATING, "HELLO, CHICK!"

"MY NAME IS NOT 'CHICK!'"

"BRAIN, YOU LOOK SMART. BUT YOU ARE NOT VERY SMART!" SAID CHICK.

"OH, NO?" SAID BRAIN. "SMELL MY FOOT!"

"I WILL NOT! COME ON, BRAIN. NO!" SAID CHICK.

By the end of this dialogue, young readers will know that they are in for a classic noodle tale in Cece Bell's Chick and Brain: Smell My Foot! (Candlewick, 2019). Whether Brain's foot smells good or not, Chick refuses to smell it until Brain says PLEASE. Chick demonstrates:

"SMELL MY FOOT, PLEASE!"

Brain gets down on all fours and smells Chick's foot!

Things continue in the same vein as Chick and Brain meet a dog named Spot, who agrees that Chick's foot smells good--because it smells like chicken, and he loves chicken! Flattered, Chick accepts Spot's invitation to come for lunch, neglecting to find out whether he will be a diner or the dinner. After much coaching, Spot says please and thank you as he ushers Chick to sit down in a bowl and sprinkles him with salt and pepper. But before Chick becomes chicken dinner, Brain arrives to rescue him. He asks Chick if he knows what food dogs eat. Chick guesses dog food.

"AND CHICKEN!" ADDS BRAIN!

Maybe Brain is pretty smart after all, in this beginning chapter book sure to gain giggles from early grade readers just trying their skills in longer books. Author-illustrator Cece Bell, already a Newbery Honor Medal winner, also earned the 2019 American Library Association Theodor Seuss Honor Medal for this clever first in series book for young readers. Set in comic book paneled page format, with four chapters and with plenty of silly interchanges between the two characters, kids will get lots of laughs (and perhaps a few etiquette hints) in this first title. Says Kirkus, "In this first series entry, Bell flips the repetitive primer structure on its head and transforms it into a winning oddball comedy."

Cece Bell's next book in this series is Chick and Brain: Egg or Eyeball?