Henny

(Hardback)

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Description

Henny is a chick whos just a little different from everyone else in the barnand who learns to embrace her special gift in this whimsical and charming picture book debut from Elizabeth Rose Stanton.

Henny doesnt look like any other chicken she knows. Instead of wings, she has arms!

Sometimes Henny likes being differentshe enjoys the way her arms flutter like ribbons when she runsbut other timesnot so much. She just cant do things the same way as the other chickens.

But doing things the same as everyone else is overrated, as Henny comes to realize in this warmhearted story, sweetly told and illustrated with fresh, expressive artwork that celebrates the individual in everyone.

Reviews

Readers will do a double take at the confident chicken who waves hello from the cover of Stantons debut. Instead of feathery wings, Henny has skinny pink human arms and hands. Although Hennys mother... loved Henny anyway, the other farm animals stare and even chortle. Henny frets, albeit in non-chickenish ways: She worried about being right-handed or left-handed.... She even worried about things she didnt quite understandlike tennis elbow, and hangnails, and whether she might need deodorant. Henny eventually discovers a talent for farm chores and starts to imagine all the other things she could do, from hailing a cab to flying (a plane). In gentle pencil-and-watercolor sketches on an eggshell-white ground, Stanton scatters moments of quiet humor like chicken feedHenny tries to fit in with a common chicken pose, folding her arms back like wings, and she bends those same elbows when she covers her ears to dampen a roosters crow... Stantons artwork marks her as a talent worth watching. (Jan.) * Publishers Weekly *
This Henny is no regular sky-is-falling chick. She has arms! (A helpful chart compares a normal chick with Henny: wattles, yes; combs, yes; wings, uh, no.) Henny has mixed feelings about her arms. They can flutterbut they can also drag. Should she be left-handed Or right-handed Should she use deodorant All ambivalence disappears, however, when Henny gets a taste of working on the farm. Milking cows and feeding chicks empowers her, and she begins to consider all the other things she might be able to do, including picking up her grain with chopsticks and combing her comb. Ultimately, all these possibilities lead tomaybea career as a pilot. The plot is thin, but the premise is clever, and the execution is hysterical. In part, this comes from Stantons expert depiction of Henny as fair, round, bemused, and rather feminine (except for those long hairy arms). And in part it comes from the clever, unlikely scenarios in which she places her heroine. The matter-of-fact tone of the text elevates the weirdness of the juxtapositions. For those who want a little more meat on their drumstick, this does have a good message about making the best of ones circumstances and looking on the bright side. But mostly, its just funny. Ilene Cooper * Booklist, Starred Review *
Henny is easily one of my top ten favorite kids books. Its so quirky and clever and warm. And it cracks my kids up every time. - Drew Daywalt, New York Times bestselling author of The Day the Crayons Quit -- Drew Daywalt * The Day the Crayons Quit *

Author Bio

Elizabeth Rose Stanton began her picture book writing and illustrating adventure a few years ago, after a brief career as an architect, and long career as a parent and fine artist. Her debut book,Henny, was awarded an American Library Association Booklist star and was named as one of the best books of 2014 for children by The New York Public Library.School Library Journalcalled her second book,Peddles, quietly wonderful, and the illustrations, a thing of beauty.Elizabeth grew up in New York and now lives in Seattle with her husband and a trio of Scottish Fold cats.