Check It Out: Hen’s creativity isn’t cooped-up

Here are a couple of questions for anyone who tends chickens:

Did you know that your chickens might be in desperate need of library cards? Or that trying to get the attention of a “buk” publisher is a mighty tough task for a literate hen?

All this time you’ve been tending to the ladies — building comfy coops, procuring tasty worms, providing plenty of room for “free ranging,” the girls have been clucking like mad to scratch out their thoughts on something more permanent than dirt. The life of a chicken, it turns out, has more breading — oops, I mean breadth — and depth than we ever eggs-pected.

I know this to be true because I just read “The Buk Buk Buk Festival,” in which Henrietta Fowler, a fine-feathered authoress, shares her eggs-citing story.

Henrietta’s literary journey begins, most appropriately, at the public library. Finding an open-minded librarian who supports poultry’s right to read, bookworm Henrietta checks out books to her little gizzard’s desire. She likes to write, too, but when she tries to get a story published, the sting of rejection raises her hackles. Then one day, while she’s pecking around at the library, she spies a poster promoting a children’s book festival. No dumb bunny, this sharp-eyed hen observes that all of the authors on the poster are people — no chickens!

Deciding to take a different tack with her publishing, Henrietta gets busy pecking on her typewriter and composes a new story called “Chickergarten.” But this time when she submits her book to publishers she says nothing about being a chicken. Then — cock-a-doodle-doo! — “Chickergarten” hits the shelves! Just goes to show that a little pluck and verve goes a long way in making chicken dreams come true.

Now, the road to success doesn’t come without a few potholes; and just because Henrietta is a fowl it doesn’t mean that her journey to fame and fortune occurs without a few rotten eggs. But fret not, for when you read this week’s charming picture book, you’ll discover that Henrietta overcomes her challenges and still ends up a happy hen (and that’s no yolk).

By the way, summer reading programs are in full swing at the library, and all ages are encouraged to take part in a program. If your nest box lacks reading material, remember that the library has lots of buks, buks, buks from which to choose. And if reading this week’s book inspires you to put pen to paper (or claw to soil if you happen to be a chicken), be sure that chick-lit author Henrietta would cluck her approval. Bwok!

Jan Johnston is the collection development coordinator for the Fort Vancouver Regional Library District.