Get Real, Lucille!

by Laura Petrisin

Overview

Lucille is just a rubber chicken in a circus act... or is she?

Tired of being the punchline, Lucille sets off on a journey to discover what it really means to be real. But when feathers fly and chickens start hatching trouble, she'll learn that being real isn't about scratching, clucking, or fluffing-it's about shining from the inside out.

A joyful, laugh-out-loud story about friendship, finding your voice, and learning to love who you truly are-because the world needs the Real Deal Lucille!

Content Rating for Get Real, Lucille!

Target Audience: Ages 5-8 Grades K-3

Content Rating Summary:

• Emotional Themes: Gentle, relatable emotional exploration
• Language: Clean
• Romance: None
• Humor: Lighthearted and situational
• Overall Tone: Uplifting, sincere, and heartwarming

Summary: Affirming, Relatable, and Heart-Centered

Get Real, Lucille! explores the tender moments of childhood when emotions run deep and learning to "be real" feels a little scary. With a heartfelt narrative and endearing illustrations, Lucille's story helps children name their feelings, understand honesty, and embrace self-acceptance.

This story contains no graphic content, no intense tension, and no inappropriate behavior glorified. Lucille faces real-life situations common to early childhood-moments of insecurity, comparison, and the longing to belong. But through warmth, truth, and gentle humor, the story always returns to kindness, courage, and being true to yourself.

Get Real, Lucille! is a perfect classroom or bedtime read-aloud for children who are just beginning to understand their own emotional world. It's also ideal for parents and educators who want stories that support social-emotional learning, empathy, and moral grounding without ever feeling heavy-handed. With rich vocabulary and a Lexile level that invites repeated reading, this book will become a cherished favorite for children and grown-ups alike.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781957656878
Publisher:	Monarch Educational Services, L.L.C.
Publication date:	08/05/2025
Pages:	34
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.09(d)
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

Editorial Reviews

2025-06-20
Lucille, a rubber chicken, yearns for something more in Petrisin’s illustrated children’s book.

As a rubber chicken belonging to a clown named Peaches, Lucille is the butt of many jokes. Peaches juggles her along with bowling pins, uses her as a bicycle horn, and even squirts water at her from trick flowers during circus performances. Lucille wants more for herself—she wants to be a real chicken. While on the train to yet another tour stop, Lucille spots a farm with a group of hens. She sneaks away as the circus tent is being set up to speak to them, but they aren’t very welcoming; the farm chickens question every aspect of her being, determined to put her in her place. When they ask her to scratch in the dirt, she only flops in the dust; when they ask her to cluck, she can only honk. (She can’t even ruffle her feathers, because she doesn’t have any.) They pelt her with eggs—only to find that she can catch them all and juggle them. When the chickens find this hilarious, Lucille realizes that she misses home. (“‘I can’t scratch, cluck, fluff, or even lay eggs,’ she thought. ‘But I CAN make people laugh!’”) She reunites triumphantly with Peaches, this time with a new understanding allowing her to perform on her own terms. Lucille’s lesson about staying true to herself is a worthy theme for Petrisin’s yarn, a follow-up to the author’s chapter bookAcorn and Button (2022). The book’s premise may seem a little silly initially, but the story is in fact very sincere, if lacking in dimension. Petrisin’s illustrations leave something to be desired with their amateurish style, particularly on page 14, where the close-up of the circus tent reveals very flat digital colors and fuzzy lines in stark contrast to the watercolor landscape around it. Still, the narrative is engagingly playful and conveys a strong message.

A comical children’s story with an earnest takeaway hampered by an underwhelming execution.

Kirkus Reviews