Little Chick by Amy Hest; illustrations by Anita Jeram

Little Chick is lucky to have such a wise, patient and loving aunt. Little Chick, like all young children, wants something, and wants it right now. Told in three stories, Little Chick is frustrated by his carrot not growing, impatient with his kite not flying and disappointed that he cannot put a star in his pocket. His Old Auntie comes each time with words of advice and time to spend. Jeram shows the chickens feelings and expressions by posing them just so. The chickens remain chickens, an extremely nice touch.

Tillie Lays an Egg by Terry Golson with photography by Ben Fink

Tillie and her six henhouse mates share three nesting boxes. The other chickens are content to lay their daily eggs in the nesting boxes and scratch in the yard for corn. Not Tillie. A true free range chicken, Tillie searches for better places to lay her eggs and along the way finds better meals than the same old corn. The other chickens peek in on each spread from the side. The detail in each photo make this a great I Spy book also. Children can figure out which chicken is spying on Tillie and find the chicken memorabilia on each page.

Tough Chicks by Cece Meng, illustrated by Melissa Suber

"From the moment Mama Hen's eggs burst open, she knew she was dealing with some pretty tough chicks." And so begins this tale of three wonderfully non-conforming chicks. All the other barnyard animals think Penny, Polly and Molly need to be docile and peck and chirp like good little chickens. No, they would rather swing from the cow's tail, roll in mud and figure out the inner workings of a tractor. And as you can probably guess, the farmer gets into a big mess and it is the 3 wild chicks who must rescue the animals and fix the tractor. Obviously this is a book showing girls in non traditional roles, but it is not heavy handed. Older preschool and young elementary is the perfect audience.