Louise, The Adventures of a Chicken

Louise, The Adventures of a Chicken by Kate DiCamillo
Illustrated by Harry Bliss
2008

     When I was a kid, there was a book I kept going back to every year, up into my early highschool days. It was a French book, I believe, translated into Spanish, about a widower and his loyal pet hen who joined Napoleon and fought against the English. I loved that book! That's why I'm so excited to have found Louise, The Adventures of a Chicken. Louise is an adventurous hen, for whom life in the chicken coop is just not exciting enough.
     Looking for an adrenaline rush, we follow Louise as she travels the seas, survives pirates and a shipwreck, joins the circus, is kidnapped and organizes a hen prison escape. I love Louise unpretentious air; after each marvelous adventure, she heads back to the coop and simply relaxes without bragging about her travels. At the end, she's a storyteller who's able to bring all her fellow hens along on her thrill rides with the power of her words. What a wonderful book!