This book is one of a new series of books, "Read and Discover", designed to encourage children to learn about the world as they learn to read. Hens lay beautiful eggs, sunbathe when it's warm, play in the dust and roost in the henhouse - and they dance too! It supports KS1-2 Science and Literacy. It is written in consultation with the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education. It offers non-fiction for developing readers. It features texts and illustrations which support children learning to read. It contains extra information section at the back of the book with index, author and illustrator biography.
From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 2-This slim, easy-to-read volume derives its title from the foot movements a chicken makes while looking for food. The little boy who owns the hen narrates the story, describing the action in the illustrations. The large-print text of one to three sentences per page can be easily handled by beginning readers. The pen-and-ink and watercolor drawings are predominantly in soft tones of yellow and brown; some are almost comical. Small illustrations and hand-printed captions add more general information to the main text. The front endpapers have pictures of 12 different breeds of hens, while the back endpapers sport the corresponding roosters. However, all are unlabeled. A nice purchase, but not a necessary one.
Eldon Younce, Harper Elementary School, KS
From Booklist
Ages 3-6. In simple statements printed in large type and attractively spaced among realistic watercolor and pen-and-ink illustrations, a young boy describes his hen's behavior and appearance. Small, hand-printed captions tucked underneath or alongside the pictures scientifically elaborate on the boy's statements. When he says his hen rolls in her dust bath, the text explains that "dust baths are good for cleaning feathers and controlling fleas." With the boy as guide, readers will sense the feel of the hen's bony skeleton wrapped in feather-duster softness, see the nesting boxes in the hen house, watch a chick hatch, then later observe the chick's amusing struggle to secure a worm. Informative yet appealingly reader-friendly, this will be a popular presentation of a hen's barnyard activities. Ellen Mandel
