What We're Reading Now

Everyone Needs a Cheering Chicken

 30 July 2024

Allison read Woo Hoo! You’re Doing Great! by Sandra Boynton to her five-year old friend who agreed it would be better if everyone had an overenthusiastic chicken.

Tags: allison read, baseball, grief, optimism, picture books, self-compassion, self-talk

Rachel and I both love picture books. She first blogged about one for us in 2011 after she read Frog and Toad Are Friends to her niece. In 2019, she wrote about a different picture book each month with her “reflections on the lessons that the simple words have for grown-ups, too.”

Earlier this year, I blogged about Beathing Makes It Better: A Book for Sad Days, Mad Days, Glad Days, and All the Feelings In-Between. Reading it most mornings for the last six months has brought me so much comfort as I've processed all the many feelings I’ve been having since my daddy died of complications related to Parkinson's disease in December 2022. I am so relieved he is free of a body that no longer worked for him, but I miss the daily conversations we had about all things great and small and especially the ones about baseball.

Last month, I’m delighted to report that I found Woo Hoo! You’re Doing Great! while I was in the bathroom at my friends’ house. They have a almost three-year old and a five-year old, so you often find the best books in the bathroom because who doesn’t like a good read when you’re potty training?

I’ve always enjoyed Sandra Boynton’s books but this one is my very favorite so far! On Sunday, I read it to my five-year old friend mentioned above. You can watch Sandra's son Keith Boynton, read the book here.

When I asked my young friend if he agreed that, “surely what you need is an overenthusiastic random chicken cheering you on,” he told me he didn’t even know what enthusiastic meant! Once I explained that big word, he agreed that everyone needs a happy-and-you-know-it chicken “to wave and cheer” when they’re feeling “lost… slow… unsure… upended… underprepared… and overextended.”

However, someone who’s that optimistic might make a big mistake, but it’s okay because, “everybody makes mistakes! That’s how we learn. That’s what it takes.” (A little sheepishly, I confessed to my friend that sometimes I can be so optimistic and enthusiastic that I can be a bit too much for people, too. He reassured me that he loves how silly I am, and that he’ll let me know if I ever get too excited.)

At the end of the book, we liked the reminder that if ever you can’t find your overenthusiastic chicken or they need a nap, it’s important to remember that, “perhaps the best woo hoo is the one you say each day to you.”

There’s nothing like a picture book to explain the importance of optimism, self-compassion, and self-talk in less than two minutes. Which of your favorite picture books should I read next?

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