Chicken in the Car…and the Car Can’t Go! | City Geography Riddle Book

City Riddle Rhymes for Geography and Wordplay

Chicken in the Car…and the Car Can’t Go! is a playful geography wordplay book by Howard Schrager that introduces American cities through silly riddle rhymes, sound clues, and memory-friendly puzzles.

Each rhyme invites children to listen closely, play with language, and solve the hidden city name. For example, “Chicken in the car…and the car can’t go!” becomes Chicago through a playful sound clue: Chi-, ca-, and go. The result is a lighthearted collection of geography riddles that blends wordplay, spelling awareness, memory work, and U.S. city study.

This book includes 63 riddle rhymes based on American city names, along with black-and-white illustrations by Sarah Madsen and short historical sketches that add context to each location. Children can read the clues aloud, guess the city, explore the map, copy the city names, or use the riddles as a group activity for homeschool lessons, classroom discussions, road trips, or family game nights.

Quirky, humorous, and intentionally pun-filled, this book is best used as a supplemental geography and language arts resource rather than a formal curriculum. It offers an alternative to rote memorization by giving children playful hooks for remembering city names through rhythm, sound, and laughter.

Book Details

• Title: Chicken in the Car…and the Car Can’t Go!
• Author: Howard Schrager
• Illustrator: Sarah Madsen
• Publisher: Lemon Tree Press
• Format: Paperback
• Subject Areas: U.S. geography, city names, language arts, riddles, wordplay, memory work
• Includes: 63 city riddle rhymes, illustrations, and historical sketches of American cities