Long Shot, Name that Childrens Book from my Childhood

February 9, 2011 2:03 PM

The book I'm looking for was a juvenile chapter book. If I remember correctly part of a series, possibly involving space travel. I remember a Giant Pickle and a Giant Chicken (that may or may not have been ridden), and possibly fried chicken. I think the cover of the book was probably mostly blue. I realize it's a long shot, but AskMe has certainly come through for others, why not me?
posted by TuxHeDoh to Media & Arts (7 answers total)

That sounds vaguely like something from Daniel Pinkwater.
posted by dws at 2:06 PM on February 9, 2011

Agreed--some conflation of Daniel Pinkwater's "Pickle Creature" and "The Hoboken Chicken Emergency." He has also written "Fat Men From Space" and "Guys From Space."
posted by MonkeyToes at 2:15 PM on February 9, 2011

Response by poster: Thanks for the suggestions, don't think it's either of those, but looking more closely. This was probably on the new releases shelf around 1989 or so.
posted by TuxHeDoh at 2:32 PM on February 9, 2011

Best answer: Alright, I know exactly what you're talking about. It's the second in a series of (as far as I know) two books by Daniel Pinkwater, in which the first features the character's inventor uncle's unique universe-altering video camera, which the character destroys at the end. To make up for the expensive camera, the character (in the second book) has to accompany his uncle in a nation-wide chicken eating contest in which the winner of the contest has to eat chicken at every franchise in the country. They do this using a pickle-shaped car which can teleport, but which progressively gets more and more inaccurate, leading to adventures in Transylvania, the Himalayas, etc. Finally they have a showdown at the last chicken franchise against a gypsy witch who tries to curse them as they eat (but the hero wins).

What's killing me is I still can't figure out which book this is.
posted by theodolite at 2:33 PM on February 9, 2011

Best answer: BINGO! It's not Daniel Pinkwater, even though it sounds like him -- it's Chicken Trek: the Third Strange Thing that Happened to Oscar Noodleman by Stephen Manes, illustrated by Ron Barrett.
posted by theodolite at 2:36 PM on February 9, 2011

Here's the Amazon page -- 17 used copies starting at $0.01!
posted by theodolite at 2:40 PM on February 9, 2011

Response by poster: theodolite, that's got to be it... but I remember so little of it. the brain is a crazy vessel.
posted by TuxHeDoh at 2:58 PM on February 9, 2011