• Age: 5 to 7
• Grade: k to 2

Discover superhero Kung Pow Chicken, in this full-color early chapter book bind-up perfect for newly independent readers. Four books in one!

Pick a book. Grow a Reader!

This series is part of Scholastic's early chapter book line Branches, aimed at newly independent readers. With easy-to-read text, high-interest content, fast-paced plots, and illustrations on every page, these books will boost reading confidence and stamina. Branches books help readers grow!

Kung Pow Chicken isn't just any superhero. He's powerful! He's quick-witted! And... he's a chicken! In this hilarious series, ordinary Gordon Blue transforms into Kung Pow Chicken. Kung Pow Chicken and his sidekick, Egg Drop, are an avian dynamic duo that fights crime in the city of Fowladelphia.

Discover Kung Pow Chicken in this four-book bind-up! In book one, Let's Get Cracking!, chickens everywhere suddenly lose their feathers and Kung Pow Chicken has to battle the evil Granny Goosebumps. In book two, Bok! Bok! Boom!, a star singer gets CHICKNAPPED and Kung Pow Chicken must stop mad scientist Dr. Screech. In book three, The Birdy Snatchers, Kung Pow Chicken has to stop Birdbrain and his zombie army. And in book four, Heroes on the Side, Kung Pow Chicken must save all of the world's sidekicks from bad guy Ticklebeak. With full-color artwork and speech bubbles throughout, this laugh-out-loud early chapter book series is filled with nonstop action!

Cyndi Marko is the author/illustrator of the Kung Pow Chicken series (Scholastic, 2014) and This Little Piggy: An Owner's Manual (Simon & Schuster, 2017). She studied Fine Arts at Okanagan University College in Kelowna, B.C., where she learned to turn old bicycle parts into works of art, and not much else. From there she went on to Humber College in Toronto, Ontario, to study graphic design and prepress technology. She currently lives in B.C. and is a moderator of the SCBWI Blueboards.

Cyndi Marko's profile page

Praise for Let's Get Cracking! (Kung Pow Chicken #1):An Amazon Best Book of the Month, January 2014

* "Marko's debut is a perfectly puntastic page-turner. Hybrids of comics and traditional pictures, the goofy all-color illustrations propel the fast-moving, high-interest story. 'Ham and eggs!' -- you don't want to miss this!" -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"This hilarious kickoff to the Kung Pow Chicken series [is] just the thing for beginning readers." -- Publishers Weekly

"Step aside, Captain Underpants! There is a new hero in town -- this time, with feathers... Fresh, funny, and packed with full-color illustrations, this new transitional series will be an instant hit with readers looking for silly fun and a touch of mystery." -- Booklist

"Frequent poultry plays on words are sure to ellicit giggles from young readers. This [series] will have broad appeal among independent readers who have outgrown easy readers but are not yet ready for books relying more on text than illustration." -- School Library Journal