Represented New Zealand at the Premi Catalonia ll-lustracio in Barcelona 1984
Finalist for the NZ Picture Book of the Year 1985

Early one morning - crack! - an acorn fell on Chicken Licken's head. "Goodness gracious me!" said Chicken Licken. "The sky is falling. I must go and tell the queen."
And so Chicken Licken sets out and on the way she meets, Henny Penny, Cocky Locky, Ducky Daddles and Turkey Lurkey. who all decide to go with her. But Foxy Woxy makes sure that they never do get to tell the queen that the sky is falling.

Reviews

"This story, reputed to be an old English folk tale, is told in various ways by different retellers, but the basic storyline always remains the same. Gavin Bishop has pared his version down to an appropriate length for a picture book, but has lost nothing of the authentic flavour of such a tale."

"He also retains the uncompromising ending...."

"In keeping with the fact that in this version of the story it is an acorn that falls on Chicken Licken's head, Gavin Bishop has used an autumn setting for his story. Rich red, brown and gold oak leaves cover the front and back of the book. The animals are boldly portrayed with Henny Penny and Cocky Lockey being particularly resplendent in their plumage."

"This version of Chicken Licken with its striking illustrations is almost certain to become a great favourite... Make sure you don't miss the last page... here we are shown a back view of the queen, complete with 'horsey' head scarf, sitting under an oak tree with an acorn about to fall on her head!"

AH, Australian Reading Time, July 1985

"Retold and illustrated by Gavin Bishop, the treasured, darkly comic fable about the gossipy fowl, also known as Chicken Licken, and her friends receives appropriately revisionist treatment from Bishop. He brings eerie autumnal colours and a high sense of drama to the tale."

The Detroit News, June 1985

"Here the classic cumulative tale of English folklore is transposed to a New Zealand setting, with the Southern Alps seen in the distance beyond Henny Penny and Cocky Locky, much as in 16th century portraits Rhine or North Italian landscapes are glimpsed in the background....

Gavin Bishop is one of the wittiest and most stylish of our illustrators."

NZ Listener, 1984

"Gavin Bishop must be considered New Zealand's foremost illustrator, and each new book of his seems more impressive than the last.

The design of this book is particularly fine; the eye is led with a constant sense of forward movement on the journey into darkness.

But the macabre elements are lightened by charmingly humorous touches such as small mice going about their own affairs, and the back view of the Queen wearing a headscarf figured with horses and horse-shoes."

Betty Gilderdale, NZ Herald, July 1984

"The retelling is simple, with most of the space on oversize pages given to wonderfully effective paintings, bold in composition and subtle but strong in the use of colors. The pictures are imbued with vigor and humor, but they are even more impressive for their strong sense of design and their textural variety."

Bulletin of the Centre for Children's Books, University of Chicago, April 1995

"This is a very satisfying version of a perennially popular tale. It has numerous comic touches and makes inventive use of the double-page spread. The one in which Chicken Licken, Henny Penny and Cocky Locky peer from the left-hand page at Ducky Daddles on the right is composed with a typically alert enjoyment of shapes on the page."

Neil Philip, British Book News. March 1985