Publisher Description

Why did the chicken cross the road? To follow you home! Learn all about a not-so-basic bird in this delightful nonfiction picture book. What's that? A chicken followed you home? Now what do you do? Celebrated author-illustrator Robin Page leads a step-by-step, question-and-answer-style journey through the world of chickens. Along the way you'll explore different breeds, discover different types of coops, and learn everything there is to know about chicken reproduction and hatching. Gorgeous, playful, and filled with facts, this engaging nonfiction picture book shines new light on a very familiar fowl!

Author Biography

Robin Page has written and illustrated many picture books celebrating the natural world, including the 2003 Caldecott Honor recipient What Do You Do with a Tail Like This?, which she created with her husband Steve Jenkins, and her own A Chicken Followed Me Home!, Seeds Move!, and Shall We Dance?. Robin lives in Boulder, Colorado.

Review

For youngest science lovers, Robin Page's (My First Day) enticing introduction to chickens explains their habitat, anatomy, diet and predators. Each double-page spread features a question in large bold type at the top, a large image of a chicken at rest, in flight or running from predators, and a clear, concise response to the question. For "How do I keep my chicken safe?" a brown chicken with marbled wings flees a hawk, also rendered in full color. Three inset monochromatic images depict other predators, alongside the answer ("For a chicken, danger can come from any direction...") and explains why a chicken coop is important. A turn of the page features the question, "What does a chicken coop look like?" then details the basics of a coop. One of the funniest exchanges asks, "What if I want baby chickens?" and answers, "Then you'll need to get a rooster!" (A clearly labeled image of both a hen and a rooster on an earlier spread shows their differences and shared characteristics.) Page gives youngsters juicy vocabulary, explaining that 8-12 eggs are a "clutch," and a female chick is called a "pullet" and a male a "cockerel." She creates an eye-grabbing graphic of 260 eggs (the average number of eggs laid annually by one hen). Her digitally rendered images look more like collage, with textured feathers on the adult birds, and a fuzzy sheen on the chicks. Additional information and step-by-step illustrations show what happens inside a fertilized egg and the variety of chickens' combs. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness Discover: An enticing first science book with fun facts about chickens.--Shelf Awareness "June 16, 2015"
This straightforward introduction to chickens is a lesson in book design of young informational books. Lots of white space allows the exemplar chicken, a Rhode Island Red, plenty of room; she (and the book clearly explains how to tell the males from the females) is generally pictured at about half life-sized. Each page or spread asks ("How long does it take an egg to become a chick?") and answers ("If a fertilized egg is kept warm and turned regularly, a chick will hatch in about 21 days") just one question about chickens and their care, and the sequence of questions is logical, with each answer building on what's come before. The Photoshop illustrations are warm and unclinical but spare and always attentive to the particular topic under review. A closing spread offers a slightly more advanced set of chicken questions ("Why do chickens have combs?") and a neat, brief directory of other sources for information. Sophie in Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer, reviewed on page 111, would've found the practical information here extremely useful.--Horn Book Magazine "May/June 2015"
What would you do if a chicken followed you home? How would you know what kind of chicken you have? How would you feed it? These are just some of the questions posed by the unnamed narrator in this nonfiction picture book for young readers. Using a question-and-answer format, this selection offers concise facts about what chickens eat, their life cycle, and other interesting information. Each page offers visually attractive illustrations, boldfaced questions, and boldfaced key words (e.g., chick, egg). The back matter includes additional questions about chickens.--Literacy Daily "August 17, 2015"
With a touch of humor, this well-designed title presents everything you always wanted to know about chickens--but didn't know to ask. The book starts with an unnamed narrator who's been followed home by a fowl, asking, "What do I do now?" After the hen eventually lays and hatches eggs and the chicks mature into adult hens, the child hopes that the creatures will "follow someone else home." Along the way, readers are introduced to information on anatomy, care, and life cycle. A question begins each topic ("Will my chicken lay eggs?") with keywords highlighted with larger, bolder type. Details are labeled or given small call-out illustrations. Digitally produced, the images are well integrated with the text and use highly textured shapes. Bright, solid color backgrounds alternate with white ones. Readers will find tons of fun and well-presented material; one page displays 260 eggs, the average number a hen lays in a year. A concluding spread of "More Chicken Questions" gives further detail and a list of more resources. VERDICT A charming addition to animal collections. Expect newly hatched domestic fowl enthusiasts to crow over this one.-Carol S. Surges, formerly at Longfellow Middle School, Wauwatosa, WI--School Library Journal *STARRED REVIEW "February 2015"

Review Quote

With a touch of humor, this well-designed title presents everything you always wanted to know about chickens-but didn't know to ask. The book starts with an unnamed narrator who's been followed home by a fowl, asking, "What do I do now?" After the hen eventually lays and hatches eggs and the chicks mature into adult hens, the child hopes that the creatures will "follow someone else home." Along the way, readers are introduced to information on anatomy, care, and life cycle. A question begins each topic ("Will my chicken lay eggs?") with keywords highlighted with larger, bolder type. Details are labeled or given small call-out illustrations. Digitally produced, the images are well integrated with the text and use highly textured shapes. Bright, solid color backgrounds alternate with white ones. Readers will find tons of fun and well-presented material; one page displays 260 eggs, the average number a hen lays in a year. A concluding spread of "More Chicken Questions" gives further detail and a list of more resources. VERDICT A charming addition to animal collections. Expect newly hatched domestic fowl enthusiasts to crow over this one. -Carol S. Surges, formerly at Longfellow Middle School, Wauwatosa, WI

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