Tic-Tac-Toe Chicken

By: Kimberly Tso

Published by Third State Books Incorporated, 2025-08-19

<p>"I loved reading this story inspired by the real Tic-Tac-Toe Chicken of Chinatown! Kids will be encouraged to seek clever solutions for the problems they see being ignored." <br><b>--Grace Lin, award-winning author of <i>A Big Mooncake for Little Star</i> and <i>Where the Mountain Meets the Moon</i></b></p><p>"An imaginative retelling of a true story, Tic-Tac-Toe Chicken is something to squawk about!"<br><b><b>--Elana K. Arnold, author of the National Book Award finalist <i>What Girls Are Made Of</i> and the <i>A Boy Called Bat </i>series</b></b></p><p><b><b>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.</b></b></p><p>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.</p><p>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?</p><p><i>Tic-Tac-Toe Chicken</i> 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 by the award-winning illustrator Louie Chin (<i>Bodega Cat</i>, <i>Fighting to Belong!</i> Vols. I and II), <i> Tic-Tac-Toe Chicken </i>showcases a local cultural touchstone and shows how children can stand up for what they believe in and solve tough problems with ingenuity and heart.</p><b><br></b><br>