Henny

Henny
by Elizabeth Rose Stanton
40 pages; ages 4-8
Simon & Schuster, 2014

theme: finding yourself

Henny was not a typical chicken. Henny was born with arms.

A typical chicken, we all know, has wings. But poor Henny. Instead of fluffy, feathery wings she had long skinny arms. Her mother loved her anyway.

What I like love about this book: the silliness of a chicken with arms - and the wonderful images Elizabeth Rose Stanton paints with her words. For example, when she runs, Henny's arms "flutter behind her like ribbons". You don't even need the illustration to see that picture!

I also like it that Stanton gives Henny some worries. For example: is she right-handed or left-handed? And what should she wear?

I like that Henny discovers so many things she can do with her arms - twiddle her thumbs, for example, or comb her comb. There's just one niggling worry: will she be able to fly? Nothing to fret over - Stanton's got that covered.

Beyond the Book: There is so much chicken silliness waiting to happen. Start with some chicken jokes. You may have heard why the chicken crossed the road, but do you know what you get when a chicken lays an egg on top of the barn roof? An Egg Roll! For more chicken jokes, go here - or make up your own.

Discover different kinds of chickens. If you have a chance to visit a farm with chickens, take along a camera or sketch pad and draw the different kinds of chickens you meet. Or visit some chicken breeds on this page.

Check out their eggs. You might know that some chickens lay brown eggs, but do you know that chickens also lay green and blue and pink eggs? Some lay dark brown eggs, some lay speckled eggs. The color depends on what breed of chicken is laying the eggs.

Do the Chicken Dance! The steps are easy: you make a beak with your hands and open-close it four times. Then you flap your wings four times, then wiggle your tail feathers four times, then clap four times. After a few repetitions, you circle round with a friend or two, or make up your own chickeny moves. Here's a video of some folks at the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh demonstrating how to dance.

Today is PPBF (perfect picture book Friday) over at  Susanna Leonard Hill's site. She keeps an ever-growing list of Perfect Picture Books.  Review copy from the author.