The Little Bookroom

questing

Olivier Dunrea. Hanne's Quest. New York: Philomel Books, 2006.

Hanne is the smallest and youngest of the Scaldy hens belonging to Mem Pockets, so young that she has not yet begun to lay eggs--far younger than the venerable Old Pegotty. And it is Old Pegotty who tells the other hens, when Mem Pockets discovers that back taxes may consume her farm, that one among them has the power to save the farm by laying three golden eggs. Not just any one of them, of course. The chosen one must have been hatched under the New Moon. She must be the bravest of heart, the purest in thought, and the wisest in the ways of the Great Goddess. And while Hanne does not know if she measures up, she is the only one of the hens to have been born under the New Moon. And so she sets off on her quest.

It takes her far from the farm, to mysterious places she could never have imagined, from barrows to standing stones to the sea itself, and when at last she returns, "she was a different hen than she had been at the beginning of her extraordinary adventure." Unlikely as a hen may seem as an heroic figure, Hanne is a compelling seeker, and a wonderful introduction to the motifs of the quest. And Dunrea's lovely illustrations enrich the story in their dark depths.

by the sea

Petra Mathers. Lottie's New Beach Towel. New York: Atheneum Books, 1998.

Lottie is a lovely Leghorn hen. Her story begins as she is preparing a picnic to share with a friend. A package arrives. "Inside was a beach towel with a note. 'Dear Lottie, This might come in handy this summer. Love, Aunt Mattie.'" And so it does. As events unfold, the beach towel rises to every occasion, saving Lottie's feet from the burning sands by the sea, servng as a makeshift sail when her friend's outboard motor dies, and substituting as a bridal veil when the original veil blows away in the wind.

This is a wonderful book for preschoolers, full of everyday dramas and the inventiveness needed to solve them. Lottie's unflappability is an inspiring model for them; her calm and persistence in the face of change an incredible support for them. Her reliance on a blanket-like object is endearingly familiar, as is her day full of incident from morning until night. And the peaceful image of her typing a thank-you note to her aunt while the towel dries under the stars is immensely comforting.

For years, we quoted lines from this book to each other, even the simple "What now?" when confronted with a small change in plans. You might, too.