The Chicken of the Family
Henrietta’s older sisters love to tease, but they reach new heights when they inform Henrietta that she’s a chicken: “Mom got you from Barney’s farm.” Arguments about having no feathers don’t hold sway. But soon Henrietta thinks she may, indeed, be a chicken— especially after she finds an egg in her bed. So she heads over to Barney’s farm to commune with her sister chicks, flapping her arms, and rolling in dirt. When her sisters come to take her home, Henrietta informs them that she is a chicken. Now, its up to the siblings to work as hard to convince Henrietta of her humanity as they did of her fowlness. The knowing premise, so true to the shenanigans of real siblings, runs its amusing course until the conclusion, when the effort peters out. But kids will still get plenty of laughs from both the story and the bright pictures on clean, white backgrounds. Henrietta, as homely as she is humorous, shows readers how to turn teasing upside down. Preschool-Grade 1. --Ilene Cooper