What a delightful story. Peggy is uprooted from her safe little yard and doesn't think twice, she turns it into an adventure. The illustrations are what attracted me to this charming chicken story, they are beautiful and fun!!
Can you take on the world a bravely as Peggy? ( )

Beautifully illustrated story of a wandering chicken. ( )

A silly book with some very pleasing water color illustrations. ( )

Peggy, a black hen, lives a nice quiet life in the suburbs, tucked away in her chicken coop. She has a routine until one day she gets blown away by the wind and deposited in the middle of a city. She is completely out of her element as she has never seen such things before. It’s busy, loud, interesting and tiring. Fortunately, she recognizes her pigeon friends and is able to find her way back home. However, because of that experience, Peggy knew how to find her way back to the city on the train and took advantage of this knowledge for some more adventures.

This is a great book for young readers that shows the advantages of traveling to new places and learning about new things. It’s ok to step outside of your comfort zone to have a new experience. You will find your way back home. I picked this book up because I thought it could be a really good book for an elementary IB program. It’s global in that it touches on traveling and the setting is in Australia. So, for US readers, it will expose them to a new part of the world. They will see in the pictures some differences and some similarities to US cities. There is a connection to the IB Learner Profile in that Peggy is a risk-taker. It would also appeal to readers who like animals (or birds) as main characters. It could also be a good book to learn about communities with. Readers will see illustrations about what it is like to live in the suburbs and to visit the city.

The illustrations are done in beautiful water colors. They are soft and muted to show that the city is not a scary place to visit. Just busy. The illustrator created some watercolor images meant to look like Polaroid photos. These are like vignettes within the larger story. These photos show Peggy’s routine and her emotions. It will keep young readers entertained. This is a great purchase for any elementary school library or public library. ( )

Well. I was reading along, thinking 'neat style of artwork, little bits of cleverness in design, but meh.

Then I got to the end and realized 'duh' the metaphor for all of us, especially me. Don't be wedded to routine, don't just watch life pass you by. Instead, get out, go someplace new, have adventures, don't be afraid to ask for help, make friends...!

So, it gets the fourth star. But still, I don't think it's entirely special and I won't recommend that you hunt it down." ( )