Top Hen! One Happy Chicken by Diana Calkins

ONE DAY A TINY BROWN CHICKEN FOUND HERSELF ALL ALONE ON A SIDEWALK.

A kind lady finds her, and since keeping poultry is prohited in her subdivision, she decides to find the adorable orphan chick a home. And she has just the place! She knows a lady who has two kids, three dogs, six cats, two parrots, and a bunny. How much difference can one tiny chick make in that menagerie? The little boy took to the chick immediately.

"MY TURN TO HOLD HER NEXT!" SAID THE LITTLE GIRL. "WE'LL CALL HER ZOE," SAID THE MOM."OH, BOTHER!" SAID THE DAD.

So Zoe moves in and soon is on the way to being the Mistress of the Menagerie. An unfortunate run-in with a rescue dog named Foxy doesn't go well, but Zoe achieves local fame as --

"THE CHICKEN WITH A BANDAID ON HER BUTT!"

Zoe's escapades finally force the vet to clip her wings to keep her out of treetops, but she soon finds eggs-actly her true destiny, discovering her prowess at egg-laying and finding diversion in her talent for doing so in creative places.

SURPRISE! MOM FOUND ONE IN THE DRYER!

It's a good life for Zoe and her big family. But tempus fugit, and in good time all the pets are adopted and the kids are grown and ready to fly the coop themselves, leaving Mom and Dad with only one happy hen, but one with an egg-cellent reputation! Diane Calkins' One Happy Chicken (1) (BookBaby/StoryMonster, 2020), is a light-hearted story of a critter-loving family and a hen with a flair  for the unpredictable.  Artist Sharon Davey provides the comic illustrations for this merry menagerie with a happy ending for all.  Roost well, everyone!

Invasion! Bad Kitty Kitten Trouble by Nick Bruel

BONK!

Kitty doesn't like that kid who delivers the newspapers.

Every day, the same thing--he interrupts her nap on the porch, bonking her on the head with the newspaper, and then he rides off on his bike saying, "SORRY, CAT!"

But the newsboy is soon to be the least of Bad Kitty's problems. What's in the news is bad news--CONFLICT GROWING!

Her kindly owner explains.

"The fighting has gotten so bad in that neighborhood--even the cat shelters have been destroyed! The kittens are all scared. They're hungry and have no place to go.

There are oodles of KITTENS who have lost their homes. We should bring some of them HERE."

This is not good news for Bad Kitty. She is not pleased with the humanitarian effort. The refugee kittens play with her toys. They nap in her bed. They eat her cat chow. They even use her litter box!

Kitty pitches a cat fit. One of them doesn't even speak English!

"Sacre bleu! Le Monstre!"

Sent to stay with Uncle Murray, Kitty takes to her bed, where she is beset by a very bad dream, one is which legions of Uncle Murrays battle with each other and destroy her happy home and her peaceful neighborhood. Suddenly, she feels some compassion for the homeless kittens,

All's well that ends well, with an end to the hostilities, in which the displaced kittens have a safe return to their home neighborhood. One even expresses her gratitude to Bad Kitty.

Au revoir, cher Kitty. Merci, merci, merci."

In Nick Bruel's latest in his popular series, Bad Kitty: Kitten Trouble (Roaring Brook, 2018), even Bad Kitty and the newspaper kid discover the roots of their old feud and decide to give peace a chance. As always, Bruel's cartoon graphics are filled with hilarious sight gags that will keep beginning chapter book readers giggling and turning the pages in the latest in his perennially best-selling series that even grownups love. (See more here.)