Hattie Peck: the Journey Home

February 20, 2017
In 2016’s Hattie Peck, the eponymous hen, unable to lay eggs of her own, “braved the elements rescuing abandoned eggs around the world.” Now Hattie lives happily and chaotically with a diverse brood that includes penguins, turtles, ostriches, owls, flamingoes, and snakes. When the time comes for her young ones to “fly the nest,” she again travels far and wide to deliver her “precious little hatchlings” to various locales, even parachuting into Manhattan. Levey captures Hattie’s devotion to her family with tenderness and humor in a tale touching on themes of adoption, unconditional love, and the sturdy bonds of family. Ages 3–6.

January 15, 2017
Hattie the egg-barren hen has lovingly raised a large and diverse brood, and now it's time to let her adopted offspring "fly the nest."Having gathered abandoned eggs from all over the world, as described in Hattie Peck (2016), the chickless mother hen glories in taking her dozens of babies--who belong to every egg-laying species from flamingo to toucan, crocodile to turtle, platypus to echidna--on outings, giving them baths, knitting them all treats for Christmas, and celebrating their common birthday. But when the time comes, with regret but no reluctance, she leads them across deep waters, over city rooftops, down into caves, and in general back where she first found each one. Back home she goes, to sit wistfully alone and knit (holding the needles incorrectly, as is oddly common in picture books)...until that birthday rolls around again and brings a grand, climactic "SURPRISE!" Aside from their forms, the hatchlings are not individualized, so the focus remains steady on the adoptive parent here. Still, Levey's colorful assemblages of cute, active baby animals crowding around their teal-feathered caregiver add large measures of humor and joie de vivre. The metaphor will be transparent even to younger readers, and Hattie's unwavering love for her foster clan casts a warm glow over the entire episode. (Picture book. 5-8)

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May 1, 2016

PreS-Gr 2-Hattie Peck is a hen who thinks and dreams about eggs-lots of eggs, big and small. Hattie laid an egg of her own only once, and it never hatched, so she now begins a journey to rescue abandoned eggs and hatch every one of them. For days and weeks she searches, across the ocean, through villages and great cities, over mountains, and through caves, fire, wind, rain, and snow, so that each lonely egg may be brought home and hatched. Hattie, with her distinctively painted teal feathers, rides the frothing arc of a wave, rolls eggs down a tiled roof as though playing a delicate game of Plinko, and glides across an endless cityscape in a parachute harness as she doggedly moves a tower of precious eggs homeward in a series of painted vignettes highlighting the enormity of her struggles. Hattie is, at last, a mom. The spread of the hen coop and more than 40 of Hattie's "chicks" sporting hand-knitted outerwear is marked by changes in font and a comic sense of the absurd. VERDICT A sweet tribute to a mother's love, this book is a recommended general purchase for readers in all libraries.-Mary Elam, Learning Media Services, Plano ISD, TX

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2017

PreS-Gr 2-In Hattie Peck, an eggless hen traveled the world collecting abandoned eggs and hatched a diverse crowd of oviparous species: an alligator, a turtle, a flamingo, an owl, a snake, an echidna, and more. In this second book, the ebullient teal hen revels in nurturing her large family. She feeds and bathes her hatchlings, reads to them, and takes them on joyfully chaotic outings, and "every year, Hattie [makes]each hatchling a perfectly-knitted treat, just for them." At last it's time for the youngsters to leave the nest. In a reversal of the first story, Hattie sails, parachutes, and treks across the world, taking her brood to their new habitats. Alone, Hattie returns home to knit gifts. The tone is wistful but not heavy. In a final twist, the far-flung hatchlings surprise Hattie with a birthday visit and "a perfectly-knitted treat, just for me." The illustrations bloom with details and are cleanly laid out in watercolor and charcoal textures against white backgrounds. Hattie's exuberant crew are a delightful lot, but the mama hen's color, size, and vivacity make her the focal point of the text and illustrations. VERDICT Children and adults will be charmed by this loving celebration of created families. An excellent general purchase.-Rachel Anne Mencke, St. Matthew's Parish School, Pacific Palisades, CA

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.