Beautifully illustrated by Charley Belles, A Serious Case of Chicken-itis tells what happens to Mary Frances Brown when she forgets to use the magic words, please and thank you. One morning when she gets up, Mary feels quite miserable and is horrid to her baby brother, Daniel. But when she steps on an old lady’s toe at the park and refuses to say sorry, something quite extraordinary happens – she suddenly finds she can’t talk and can only cluck. Not knowing what to do, Mummy sends for Daddy, then the window cleaner, the postman, Mrs Smith from next door and finally, the doctor who diagnoses chicken-itis. Helter-skelter, they run to the park to find the old lady, the only one who can cure Mary.