Coop: a year of poultry, pigs and parenting by Michael Perry

Wonderful book!  Michael Perry makes raising pigs to slaughter, building a chicken coop, and staying up late with a screaming child seem poetic and lovely!  Fond of short titles, this author's last book was Truck: a love story about his courtship of the wife who shows up on Coop, pregnant and eventually giving birth at home.  Perry looked at all the women surrounding his wife and decided he needed a dhoula, so he asked his friend, Mills (a guy) to help him out!   A nice read for anyone who just wants a relaxing, bucolic tale in the tradition of The Good Good Pig and James Herriott's books..with a little more edge.
Kim F

Chicken Big

by Keith Graves. 32 pages.

A hilarious story about chickens and acceptance. "On a teeny little farm, in an itty-bitty coop, a very small hen laid a big, humongous egg." And so begins the story of Chicken Big. The other chickens cannot decide what he is -- an elephant? A squirrel? An umbrella? A sweater? Until, like all good picture books, Chicken Big saves the day, and the other chickens (most at least), accept him for what he is -- a chicken and part of their group of friends and family. Graves' pencil art (described as "chicken scratching") fills the pages, complemented with varying size font, dialog bubbles and signage to add to the hilarious and preposterous comments from the chickens. Storytime children will quickly chime in to the recurring warning of the smallest chicken, urging others to "Run for your lives." Adults and children alike will enjoy the droll humor of this book. A perfect storytime pick.