Henny

Read on March 12, 2014

Henny is an adorable chicken with arms...so she's also different. She likes and dislikes her differences and finally embraces them. Great illustrations, too!

Henny is hatched and soon learns she is very different. Possessing arms instead of wings, she drags on behind the others. Naturally, she is a target of bullying and derision.

Realizing she must accept who she is, she chooses to find benefits of arms. She can wear a sweater; she can catch a ball;

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she can carry a purse; and, she can fly a plane way in the sky above the ground where others are tethered by their tiny wings.

This is a wonderful book for children, and adults who feel different and who struggle to accept the beauty of their situation.

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Arms and the hen. Not your typical chicken.

"Henny wasn't a typical chicken," begins this quirky picture-book from Elizabeth Rose Stanton, in which an unusual chicken learns to embrace her differences. No, Henny had arms rather than wings. She also had dreams, and plans. Although she soon learned that having arms had both its advantages and

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disadvantages, and although she both liked and disliked the fact that she was different from the other chickens, eventually she discovered that the good things that this unusual aspect of her body allowed her to do - helping Mr. Farmer with his tasks, for instance - far outweighed the bad things. In fact, Henny began to imagine all the wonderful activities her arms might make possible… even flying!

A former architect, Elizabeth Rose Stanton made her children's book debut with Henny, which features an endearing galline heroine struggling to come to terms with who she is, and beautiful pencil and watercolor artwork that no doubt reflect its creator's skill in draftsmanship. I appreciate artists who aren't afraid of leaving large portions of a page white - sometimes less is more - and found Stanton's use of soft and subtle colors a pleasure. The scene in which a realistic hen is compared to Henny, early on in the book, demonstrates the artist's craft - both her realistic and more figurative chicken are very well done - as well as her sense of humor. Although not quite the equal of her subsequent Peddles, which I read at the same time, Henny is an appealing little picture-book, and an auspicious debut from this new children's author/artist.

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Well, this one is a little on the weird side. with ever so troubling illustrations. I guess that's why I like it so much -- it also has a great message and is funny, but the slightly troubling illustrations take it over the top into the good place for me.