Cluck-A-Doodle--Doo! Chickens On the Farm by Dizzy Harris

Before the sun is up, the chickens on the farm huddle in their warm coop, a sort of house for chickens. When the rooster crows, the hens leave their roosts or nests, to start their day. If the hens have any baby chicks, the little ones follow their moms outside to scratch around with the rooster for fresh food like seeds, worms or bugs.

But the chicken farmer usually appears with some grain to feed them, especially the little ones, to make sure the chicks have enough food to grow big and healthy.

In Dizzy Harris' Chickens on the Farm (Bullfrog Books: Farm Animals) (Bullfrog Books, 2021) preschool and primary graders learn about those famous farm animals--the chickens--and how they are raised on farms.

With large accurately colored and labeled illustrations, young readers learn poultry nomenclature--hen, rooster, chick, eggs-- and chicken coloration, from showy red rooster combs and fancy tail feathers, and the more blendable hens' colors of brown, white, and brindle, their basic physiology--claws, combs, feathers, beaks,--and other chicken vocabulary--coop, eggs, hatch, grain, bugs, peck, and crow--and follow them through their day from first crow to last cluck in the coop at night.

Considerate of the age of his readers, author Harris' text delicately offers no discussion of the chicks' future as chicken nuggets or chicken noodle soup in his narration. The author does, however, provide many of the parts of a good non-fiction book--title page, table of contents, a labeled Parts of the Chicken schematic drawing, a glossary, index, and other resources on line in his Fact Surfer section-- all to get his beginning readers familiar with proper non-fiction reading for the research reports in their futures.

This well-illustrated and designed educational series offers similar informational books on various farm animals in this series, good to read aloud as preparation for school field trips or for beginning readers who want to know more about those animals down on the farm.

Spring Busy-ness: Busy Chickens and Busy Bunnies by John Schindel

CHICKENS WALKING!

CHICKENS SQUAWKING!

And--chickens doing practically everything that chickens can do are the subject of John Schindel's amazing little board book, Busy Chickens (A Busy Book), which puts the personality into poultry!

No pedestrian poultry here, as the vivid and dynamic color photos go up close and personal. Schindel's creative verse features verbs, as chickens zoom and groom, flap and nap, care (for eggs) and share, and peek and sneak. The various fowl vary from oh-so-cute golden fuzz-balls chicks to exotic crested capons, and the wonderful Steven Holt shots of chickens in action seem to be come alive on the pages. It's high art to make chickens beautiful and arresting, but this book for the youngest lap-sit audience does the job.

And for the upcoming spring season, add Schindel's and Holt's equally jolly photo essay Busy Bunnies which puts a variety of young rabbits up front and center in spring-tinged pastels. Young ones do the bunny hop and then plop down for a bunny nap. Bunnies go riding on Mother Bunny's back and go hiding inside a flower pot, and look darn cute doing it all.

Perfect for a pre-Easter read or pre-farm outing, these two board books in the Busy Books series are wonderful signs of spring for adult and small child to share.