Tic-Tac-Toe Chicken

New York City is not a great place for a chicken to live. It’s crowded and loud and busy. But you can find the city’s most famous chicken, Lillie, a.k.a. the Tic-Tac-Toe Chicken, in Chinatown.

When tourists ask, “Where’s the Tic-Tac-Toe Chicken?” locals point them to a video-game arcade on Mott Street, where Lillie plays games of tic-tac-toe against anyone who wants to play against her.

But eight-year-old Beatrice worries that the dark arcade is just not a good place for Lillie to live. She devises a clever plan: she will challenge the arcade’s Big Boss in a game of tic-tac-toe. Will Beatrice win Lillie’s freedom?

Tic-Tac-Toe Chicken is a picture book inspired by the true story of Lillie, a real chicken trained to play tic-tac-toe in New York’s Chinatown Fair arcade, and her relocation to a farm for rescued animals. Featuring vibrant paintings of Chinatown, Tic-Tac-Toe Chicken showcases a local cultural touchstone and shows how children can stand up for what they believe in and solve tough problems with clever thinking.

Use any of the following links to pre-order Tic-Tac-Toe Chicken. I recommend ordering through Bookshop.org, an online storefront for independent booksellers across the country. By ordering through it, you support your choice of local bookstores and authors at the same time. If you use my Bookshop.org storefront featured here, you will also see other books I recommend. Thanks!