When people danced to Joe Beebee's music they forgot about bad knees, tight shoes, backaches, blisters, and beetles . . . They forgot sickness, sadness, and sin. Joe Beebee's music, folks say, will take you up so high, your problems look small enough to stomp on. But, worries a plain brown hen, can it make a quiet rooster sing? Can it save her best friend from becoming Quiet Rooster Stew? Will Joe Beebee even play for chickens? With art as fun as waltzing on the moon and with words as lively as a fiddle, this book captures the power of music to heal and of friendship to endure. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Martin (Banjo Granny) and Sweet (Carmine) journey to the land of "Laissez les bons temps rouler" for a story of how zydeco music saves a rooster from the chopping block. A case of chicken measles has left the poor "roo" without a crow, prompting his "nothing but practical" owner to declare that "a roo who won't wake the barnyard is headed for stew-quiet rooster stew." A frantic brown hen, Miss Cleoma, believes all the roo needs is a dose of "music so good he'll remember to sing" and she hops off to recruit the finest fiddler in St. Cecilia Parish for a barnyard bal de maison. This is a somewhat bumpy effort on a few fronts. Martin's Cajun-inflected prose occasionally bogs down with colorful atmosphere. Though Sweet's human characters are a bit bland (the roo's savior falls far short of the build-up he's given), her barnyard creatures-Miss Cleoma in particular-brim with verve. The text makes for a lively read-aloud and there's much to savor in Sweet's quirky, roughhewn mixed media pictures. She cooks up a rich gumbo of perspectives and framings, and her comically expressive poultry cast should have youngsters clucking right up until the roo emits a triumphant "Qwerk-beaucoup-a-doodle-doo!" Ages 4-8. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information