Plano Reads: Chickens
9 mins read

Plano Reads: Chickens

Cock-a-doodle-doo and cluck, cluck, cluck! It’s time to head to the farm and meet some chickens with some of our favorite stories.

From fiction to facts, this list has something for everyone! You can see the books below and place them on hold in our catalog.

This Saturday on our “Saturday Stories on the Farmstead” we are at the Heritage Farmstead Museum in Plano, Texas to have a storytime about chickens! Be sure to check our Facebook page at 10:30 a.m. on October 10 for the premiere.


Board Books

Note: Board books are unavailable for holds requests. To check out these titles, you’ll need to come to a library and grab it from the display. The catalog link will show you where the book is available.

Colorful World: Farm: Find What’s Different! by Nastja Holtfreter Request
Look carefully! Something’s not the same… Find the one’s that’s not a donkey. Which baby is not a chicken?

Good Night! by Ethan Long Request
Illustrations and simple text show parent-and-animal pairs saying goodnight to each other, as chick’s “peep peep” is answered by a chicken’s “cluck cluck” and a puppy’s “ruff ruff” is returned by a dog’s “woof woof.”

Quack Like a Duck! by Harriet Ziefert Request
Illustrations and rhyming text invite the reader to imitate the noisy denizens of a bustling barn, from squawking like a chicken and bleating like a goat to mooing like a cow.

Picture Books

Chicken Story Time by Sandy Asher Request
Storytime in the library becomes increasingly chaotic as first one chicken then a whole flock joins in and the librarian must come up with a creative solution so that everyone can enjoy the story.

Chickerella by Mary Jane and Herm Auch Request
This barnyard version of the Cinderella story features a mild-mannered chicken, a fashion-conscious Fairy Goosemother, and a prince at a Fowl Ball.

Chicken Break!: A Counting Book by Cate Berry Request
Illustrations and easy-to-read rhyming text invite the reader to count chickens, from one standing guard to ten drooping and dragging their way back to the coop after breaking out for a night of fun.

Chicken Cheeks: The Beginning of the Ends by Michael Ian Black Request
Illustrations and simple text describe the back ends of various animals.

The Red Hen by Rebecca and Ed Emberley Request
Ren Hen finds a recipe for a Simply Splendid Cake and asks her friends the cat, the rat, and the frog to help with the preparations. But it seems as though her friends want no part in the cake until it’s ready to eat. Will they decide to pitch in, or let Red Hen do all of the hard work?

Blue Chicken by Deborah Freedman Request
An enterprising chicken attempts to help an artist paint the barnyard and accidentally turns the whole picture blue.

Chickens to the Rescue by John Himmelman Request
Six days a week the chickens help the Greenstalk family and their animals recover from mishaps that occur on the farm, but they need one day to rest.

This Little Chick by John Lawrence Request
A little chick shows that he can make the sounds of the animals in his neighborhood.

Tough Chicks by Cece Meng Request
Three independent chicks who dare to be different are reprimanded by the other barnyard residents for not being quiet and docile, until the smart, fearless trio takes on a runaway tractor.

My Dog’s a Chicken by Susan McElroy Montanari Request
Told she cannot have a puppy because it would be just another mouth to feed, Lula Mae decides to turn one of the chickens into a very special dog.

Chicks and Salsa by Aaron Reynolds Request
Soon after the chickens tire of their feed and decide to make tortilla chips and salsa, all the other animals on Nuthatcher Farm start to crave southwestern cuisine.

A Little Chicken by Tammi Sauer Request
Dot is scared of lots of things: wolves, bears, the occasional lawn ornament. But when one of her mother’s eggs rolls out of the nest, this nervous chick must find the courage to save the day – and her new sibling! So she bravely ventures down the steep hill, into the deep pond, and into the dark woods. Perfect for any kid who needs a little encouragement to face the challenging world, this story proves that sometimes a big hero is just a little chicken.

Hensel and Gretel, Ninja Chicks by Corey Rosen Schwartz and Rebecca J. Gomez Request
Ninja sisters Hensel and Gretel must rescue their parents from the cornbread cottage of a wily fox.

Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein Request | eBook | Wonderbook
Little Red Chicken wants Papa to read her a bedtime story, but interrupts him almost as soon as he begins each tale.

Minerva Louise by Janet Morgan Stoeke Request
A hen has fun exploring the house with the red curtains.

Early Readers

Chicken Said, “Cluck!” by Judyann Ackerman Request
Earl and Pearl do not want Chicken’s help in the garden, until a swarm of grasshoppers arrives and her true talent shines.

Chicken on a Broom by Adam Lehrhaupt Request
When Pip’s mask goes missing before the Halloween costume party, it’s up to Zoey the brave chicken and her sidekick Sam to go looking for it in the spooky barn.

Chicken for a Day by Frances Minters Request
A girl wakes up to find she has turned into a chicken.

Junior Fiction

The Chicken Squad by Doreen Cronin Request
When the squirrel Tail comes barreling into the chicken coop ranting about a round, shiny, green, big, scary thing in the yard, Dirt, Sweetie, Poppy, Sugar investigate this strange object.

Extraordinary Warren, a Super Chicken by Sarah Dillard Request
An ordinary chicken discovers what makes him super – inside and out.

Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer by Kelly Jones Request
Through a series of letters, Sophie Brown, age twelve, tells of her family’s move to her Great Uncle Jim’s farm, where she begins taking care of some unusual chickens with help from neighbors and friends.

Junior Non-Fiction

Chickens by Lori Dittmer Request
An exploration of the life cycle and life span of chickens, using up-close photographs and step-by-step text to follow a chicken’s growth process from egg to chick to mature chicken.

A Chicken Followed Me Home!: Questions and Answers About a Familiar Fowl by Robin Page Request
A nonfiction picture book exploration of chickens, and all the fascinating things about them – how they fly, what they eat, what the different breeds are, and more.

Egg to Chicken by Rachel Tonkin Request
Follow the journey through a chicken’s life cycle, from the time the egg is laid, through hatching a chick, to becoming a fully grown hen.

Adult Non-Fiction

Beautiful Chickens: Portraits of Champion Breeds by Christie Aschwanden Request
Stylishly lit and shot against a studio background, these portraits showcase 40 of the world’s most distinctive breeds, primped and preened for their moment in the spotlight. The book includes descriptions of each breed, covering their origins, physical attributes, and uses.

Free-Range Chicken Gardens: How to Create a Beautiful, Chicken-Friendly Yard by Jessi Bloom Request
In this essential handbook, award-winning garden designer Jessi Bloom offers step-by-step instructions for creating a beautiful and functional space while maintaining a happy, healthy flock.

Counting My Chickens – And Other Home Thoughts by Deborah Devonshire Request
The Duchess of Devonshire is the youngest of the Mitford siblings. In Counting My Chickens, she has gathered extracts from her diaries and other writings to create a multifaceted portrait of her life at Chatsworth, the home of the Dukes of Devonshire, that is pithy, hilarious, wise, and always richly rewarding.

Travels With My Chicken: A Man and His Companion Take to the Road by Martin Gurdon Request
When Martin Gurdon’s previous book was published, he and his chicken, Tikka, decided to embark on a one-man, one-bird, whistle-stop tour from the Southeast of England to Edinburgh in Scotland, via a children’s nursery, a home for old soldiers, and numerous women’s institute meetings.


Be sure to browse the library catalog online here, and use your library card number and PIN (last four digits of your phone number) to place a hold request.

Be sure to check our Facebook page at 10:30 a.m. on October 10 for the premiere of our next installment of Saturday Stories at the Farmstead!

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