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Children's Literature
This seemingly simple tale of barnyard chickens turns out to be a humorous but inspirational parable of an uprising against a tyrant—with, perhaps, feminist overtones. Brown Beige, Blond, and Red are the colors of the chickens, and the names under which their food appears daily in the trough. The small but cocky rooster has his own spot where somehow, the chickens notice, he gets more food than they do. When questioned, he summons support from fellow roosters and shouts down the chickens. As he takes over more and more control, the chickens decide it is time for them to take a course in self-esteem. They assert their rights, and all seems well, but somehow on the final page we sense that the rooster has not given up yet. Colored illustrations produce a basic yard with a few props, like signs, and the characters. The hens are at first typically docile, while the much smaller rooster is all red cockscomb and attitude. The fun really begins as we watch the hens reinvent themselves amid parodies of contemporary enhancements of self-esteem. The almost final scene of the rooster, limp in posture and crest-fallen, contrasts with that of one of the chickens sunbathing in sunglasses, as farm life goes on. 2005 (orig. 2004), R & S Books, Ages 4 to 8.—Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz
Overview
Four hens live on a chicken farm. A little rooster lives there, too. "What a nice little rooster you have here," everyone says when they come to visit. Indeed, it seems so for a while. But then the rooster begins to take more food for himself, and the hens get less. When the hens try talking to him about fairness, they're not prepared for his reaction. The rooster turns into an egotistical barnyard bully, and the hens are worse off than before....