(NOTE: I was given a copy of this book but all opinions are my own.)
We all know that there are lots of reasons why reading to children is important: it helps with things like language development, thinking abilities, listening skills, and bonding. But there’s one thing that I haven’t seen in any study on reading. And that it’s downright fun!
Three Hens, a Peacock, and the Enormous Egg by Lester Laminack is a perfect example of the fun you can get from reading.
But first, Let me talk a wee bit about the storyline.
The Tuckers had a farm. One with cows, hens, an old hound dog, and a peacock.
One day, a crate bounced off a truck as it drove by.
An egg rolled out of the crate.
Of course the hens had to check it out. And the peacock. And the hound dog.
Of course they knew they had to protect the egg. Working together, they got the egg back into the box. They also knew that they needed to protect the box. So they decided to move the box to the barn. Which they did with the help of the cows. (Go cows!)
Once they got the egg in the barn, they realized that the egg needed to be kept warm so it would hatch.
The hen, Mildred (isn’t that a great name for a chicken?), sat on it. She barely covered it.
It took all 3 hens and a peacock to sit on it to keep it warm.
But.
They realized that they couldn’t sit on the egg during the day because they had their day jobs to do. (I didn’t realize chickens had day jobs. I thought it was a 24/7 job. Silly me . . .)
They came up with a great plan to keep the egg warm during the day — the hound dog would wrap his body around the egg. What a clever solution! (But hey! Doesn’t the dog have a day job? Huh?)
Together, the three hens, the peacock, and the hound dog successfully hatched the egg.
And all lived happily ever after.
Now, let’s talk about fun while reading.
It’s loads of fun to see a book’s illustrations.
Like this one. As the hens and the peacock sat on the egg at night, they imagined what the chick would look like when the egg hatched. I love the looks on all the faces . . .
. . . and these faces . . .
. . . and this face!
Henry Cole, the illustrator, does a bang up job on the facial expressions in this book.
Another fun thing about reading is that sometimes unexpected things happen. Like a dog ‘sitting’ on an egg to help hatch it. Fun, huh?
Another fun thing is when unusual things are connected. Like a dog and an egg. A dog and a peacock. Cows helping chickens. An ostrich AND chickens AND a dog hatching an egg.
And the best fun of all is spending time with grandkids and reading to them. It doesn’t get much better than that.
This is a delightful book and I highly recommend it. It’s a great addition to your personal library.
You can get a copy of Three Hens, a Peacock, and the Enormous Egg by Lester Laminack on Amazon for $15.
