Henrietta and the Golden Eggs [Hardcover]

Hanna Johansen (Author), Kathi Bhend (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

Henrietta has big dreams for a little chicken: learning to sing, to swim, to fly, and, most important of all, to lay golden eggs. Even when her three thousand, three hundred thirty-three fellow inmates in the old henhouse laugh at her ambitions, Henrietta holds fast, practicing day and night. And while she's honing her talents, she's also getting ready to move on to the bigger, brighter world she can see through the tiny hole in the henhouse wall.

Our heroine is no fool; she knows her limitations, but doesn't let them destroy her ambitions, any more than she lets the henhouse walls keep her a prisoner. And she's not above causing a little havoc along the way once the other three thousand, three hundred thirty-three chickens find her escape route, chaos reigns in the barnyard, by the pond, and among the wheat fields.

Whether Henrietta achieves her dreams is debatable, but through her persistence and her resolute belief in herself, she does manage to change the lives of everyone in the henhouse for the better.

This delightful fable is the first book by Hanna Johansen to be published in English. The spirited pen-and-ink illustrations by Käthi Bhend, printed in two colors, capture the henhouse denizens and their frenetic escapades down to the last feather.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Gr. 1-3. Henrietta lives in a crowded chicken house where "the air stank of chicken droppings and fortified chicken feed." Despite the hopelessness and the crowded conditions, she has a dream--to one day lay a golden egg. But before that, she wants to sing and swim, and as impossible as those dreams seem, Henrietta is clever enough to make them happen. At the same time, she allows her friends to run free, until the farm manager sees that roaming chickens are happy chickens who lay better eggs. Johansen's message about following your dreams outside the chicken house will work best with a slightly older audience than the preschool crowd, as will Bhend's intricate pen-and-ink illustrations. The pictures are quite extraordinary: hilarious depictions of chickens set free as well as somber drawings of chickens stuffed in a modern-day chicken house that goes on as far as the eye can see. This effective tale, translated from the German, has layers of subtext in both story and art. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

Any book that begins with the unlovely depiction of life on a factory farm, such as this one which opens, 'once upon a time, there were three thousand three hundred and thirty-three chickens who lived in a great big chicken house . . . ' has my rapt attention from the start. In Henrietta and the Golden Eggs, the life of an egg-laying chicken on a factory farm is depicted as significantly unpleasant, including stinky air, feather loss and overcrowded conditions. However, one young chicken has her sights set on a different kind of life. Little Henrietta announces that she is going to learn to sing and lay golden eggs. . . . I commend this book for refusing to flinch from some of the unpleasant welfare and economic realities of factory farming. Henrietta herself is a spunky, likeable young bird. The pen and ink line drawings by illustrator Kathi Bhend are divine and she brings the words to life in a very appealing way. --Jennifer Gannett, Vegbooks

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 64 pages
• Publisher: David R Godine; 1st US edition (October 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1567922104
• ISBN-13: 978-1567922103
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 6.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,576,475 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for chicken lovers and kids, November 5, 2010

By 

Pommerenk Mama - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Henrietta and the Golden Eggs (Hardcover)

I ordered this book because we have 4 backyard chickens and I thought it would be a good book to read the kids (4 1/2 & 2 years old). I was right. It was a nicely written book with great pictures. We read it over and over again.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, September 6, 2010

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Henrietta and the Golden Eggs (Hardcover)

We raise backyard chickens at our home so this book was great for our kids. I love the photos as well as the story.

5.0 out of 5 stars Review of Henrietta and the Golden Eggs, July 14, 2003

By 

Freya Carter (Bedford, NH United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Henrietta and the Golden Eggs (Hardcover)

As a parent, I enjoy this succinct yet sensitive story about a chicken who turns the tables on a very serious situation; that is the healthfulness of her environment, which she shares with the many, many other chickens in her barn. My children, ages 4 and 7 found her antics hilarious. They begged for the story to be read again and again, which I was pleased to do. I would highly reccommend this book to other parents on the lookout for environmental books for their children, or for children who enjoy a good animal story.