The chicken gave it to me

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

A classic children's story from one of our best-loved authors, former Children's Laureate Anne Fine.

Gemma doesn't believe a chicken could have written a book - chickens can't even read! But here in front of them is The True Story of Harrowing Farm, and its scratchy pages definitely look, well, chickeny. It is an epic tale of cruelty and bravery, the story of a chicken who flies frillions of miles, reaching the heights of intergalactic superstardom, to try to save us humans . . .

Anne Fine's fun school stories have been delighting children for more than 20 years, winning her awards such as the Smarties Book Award and Carnegie Medal along the way.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Booklist Review

Gr. 4-6. This time out the very funny Fine is hawking a message, and though the message gets muddled, her off-the-wall humor carries the day. When Andrew arrives at school with a book and tells his classmate Gemma, "The chicken gave it to me," she has her doubts. But as they read the book together, it is clear that a very special chicken has written this opus. Fine's book alternates between the chicken's scratchings and the kids' reaction to them. Naturally, Andrew and Gemma are amazed to learn that the chicken has been let out of her cage by aliens who have arrived on Earth to pen up humans instead. The little green men view people the same way people view chickens--as dinner. The chicken, who has been living in deplorable conditions, is tempted to let those who've caged her suffer the same fate. But this fowl is bigger than that. Instead, she goes on a mission of mercy to the planet of the green people, to tell them what it is like to live the attenuated life of a future meal, imprisoned by those who think they are superior to you. If this were a straight plea for vegetarianism, it might have worked better. But Fine muddies the water by advocating not total abstention from meat but free-range grazing. Gemma notes, "If I'd had a reasonably good time, and it had lasted a fair while, I wouldn't mind being eaten." What constitutes a good time to a chicken is not addressed, and whether kids are even aware of free-range grazing is questionable. Fortunately, the book is so sly and funny that it can be read on a just-for-yucks level, with the message present if not always clear. Fisher's pen-and-wash art featuring penned-up people, aliens with acne, and a stand-up hen is just right. ~--Ilene Cooper

Horn Book Review

When a chicken accosts Andrew and forces a book on him, he and his friend Gemma find themselves reading a remarkable story of one courageous and caring hen's 'Mission of Mercy' to save humankind. A satirical and immensely amusing tale that animal-rights activists, in particular, will find gratifying. From HORN BOOK 1993, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Book Review

Avidly, Gemma and Andrew pore over the extraordinary manuscript forced on him by a passing hen: ``The True Story of Harrowing Farm.'' The hen tells how little green men shoo her and her fellows from the cramped cages where they've been confined to lay eggs, uncomfortably, in public, then fit the cages to humans- -the species they prefer as food. Horrified to see people suffering as she used to, the hen stows away on the men's spaceship and becomes a TV celebrity on their planet, successfully pitching her plea: no one should eat an animal that isn't first allowed a happy life; anyway, grains and vegetables are more efficient foods. The message dominates; but Fine (My War with Goggle-Eyes, 1989) is an imaginative humorist who treats the gruesome reversal with a light touch. The satirical episodes of the hen's space adventure alternate with the kids' responses to it (incredulous, then concerned); meanwhile, Fine points out how humans keep uncomfortable truths (like conditions in chicken factories) concealed. Animal-rights advocates will be delighted; others can enjoy Fine's wry wit--and have their sensitivities enhanced. (Fiction. 8-12)