Minerva Louise

Minerva Louise

by Janet Morgan Stoeke

A hen has fun exploring the house with the red curtains

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Childrens, Fiction, Storytime, Humor, Birds

24 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

Reviews

[Luisa Knight · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh. my. cuteness.

If you haven't been introduced to this loopy and lovable hen, then you've been missing out! She's just as fun and silly as Amelia Bedelia, but with a humor that the younger kiddos will get. A favorite character for sure!

Warning! This book could make you do this 😜: watch my reel!

Ages: 2 - 6

Content Considerations: nothing to note.

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[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

We love Minerva Louise! It’s charming and amusing the way she interprets every new sight in terms of her perspective. For example, upon entering the farmhouse for the first time, she thinks the child’s trike is a tractor and the floral bedspread is a meadow of flowers.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

First sentence: Minerva Louise loved the house with the red curtains.

Premise/plot: Minerva Louise explores the house with the red curtains in this picture book. It is the first in a series starring this lovable hen. She may not be the smartest chicken, but, she may be the funniest. For example, "a comfortable chair...and friendly cows." The chair is a flower pot. The 'friendly cow' is a kitten.

My thoughts: I like this one very much. I don't know if I love, love, love Minerva Louise yet. But. I am curious about this CURIOUS chicken. I want to see what other types of adventures she has. Will definitely be returning to the library for more!

Text: 4 out of 5
Illustrations: 5 out of 5
Total: 9 out of 10

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pure. Sweet.

[Tym · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute little story about a hen with very little going on upstairs.

[Raina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since this book was originally published, Minerva Louise has appeared in a bouquet of friendly picture books. In this introduction to the character, our hen interprets the sights within a house through the lens of her normal view outdoors. A tricycle is a tractor. A bedspread is a field of flowers. Stoeke effortlessly depicts a friendly way to encounter newness. The illustrations are framed in rough rectangles on white pages, and the text is written in a large font at the bottom of each page. All of the objects are simply drawn, with easy lines and bright colors. A practiced provider of group storytimes will wish each picture filled more of the page (to be more easily seen across a room), but lap-sharing children will enjoy the subtlety, as they get to discover each new misunderstanding. Minerva Louise’s story is a classic in the most deserving sense.
//SSBRC

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This seems like it would be a fun book to read to toddlers.

[FM Family · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wanted to like this more. Love a silly book but I felt like there was just a sense of “there’s no There there” as I read it. Like she’s in the house, then she leaves, then she’s back. In the meantime she does some silly stuff and my two year old likes the idea of a. Hen sitting on a pie but it didn’t rock our worlds.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quirky and curious Minerva Louise explores the house with the red curtains and, oddly, finds objects that belong on the farm. Minerva mistakes common household items for things from the farm.

Teaching points: perspective, on the farm, character traits

Suggested grade level: K-1

Location: ???

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this chicken! Minerva Louise is one of my favorite characters, and I have several of the books she's featured in. Her initial story fit perfectly with our chicken-themed story time, and my 3-5 kiddos loved her. Can't wait to feature her again!

[Melinda Christensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Minerva Louise is a hen that loves the outside. However, one day she looked inside the house and hopped in the window, finding items she thought were perfect. But she was confused; she couldn't find anyone to play with. Find out what she does next! The drawings are excellent.

[I am Gnome Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love to use Minerva Louise books for "Chickens" themed Storytimes. Appropriate for toddlers- pre-k, and if you can muster a good chicken voice it will go down well for slightly older children as well. Big fan of the artwork.

[Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chicken Minerva Louise explores the farmer’s house.

This picture book introduces Minerva Louise, the silly and endearingly confused chicken who always comically misinterprets seemingly obvious things. Young readers will enjoy knowing more than this series’s main character.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yes, Minerva Louise is a silly chicken and in this title she is checking out a house with red curtains to see if there is someone to play with. Of course she confuses a number of things as she usually does, a flowered bedspread for a meadow of flowers.

[Leah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adorable!

[Casandria · Rating 4 out of 5]

So silly and fun! This book never gets old :)

[Michelle Farella · Rating 4 out of 5]

So cute!!!

[Olivia S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very short, not a lot of words, but the story and pictures are so sweet! Can't wait to read the rest of the series!

[Kristen Thorp · Rating 4 out of 5]

168/365

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

My god, I have never seen such an adorable book. The illustrations. Minerva is hilarious looking and the story is so cute. So much overwhelming adorableness.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet memories of reading this cute story with my daughters. Love the idea of mistaking things for other things.

[Grandma M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute and silly. Will be fun to talk about all of Minerva's misconceptions.

[Terresa Wellborn · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite picture book characters, feathers down. So much love.

Themes: chickens, humor
Ages: toddler-1st grade

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very silly and humorous story following a chicken. My kids ask for it again and again while giggling.

Ages 2-6

[Alexandra]

Minerva Louise, you beautiful little fool

[Amy Hudson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute and funny book, similar to Amelia Bedelia, allows the Pictures to tell a different story than the words tell so it prompts those close reading and observant skills.

[JC · Rating 4 out of 5]

Silly but adorable
Read

[Vivian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Minerva Louise, the hen's version of Amelia Bedelia, is so fun for young children because they know, for instance, that a fireplace is NOT a nest, a flower pot is not a chair, and a cat is not a cow. They enjoy correcting this silly chicken.

[June · Rating 3 out of 5]

I find Stoeke's simple style appropriate for Toddler Time, however, I might need to move it up to Story Time. I had a few older kids come to PJ Story Time for once and they got the jokes, while I think that most might go over toddler's heads. 4/10/12

Maybe it works with smaller groups of younger kids. I had a small PJ Story Time and I discussed it a bit more with one of my regulars, who wasn't to shy and she responded well to it. 4/29/13

Went over better than Hattie and the Fox, since it is not as long and some of the older toddlers got some of the jokes.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the Minerva Louise books! (Yes, there is more than one.)

I always seem to have a lot of luck reading chicken stories to children. I read this to a daycare class of three- and four-year-olds, and they loved telling me the real names of the things the hen Minerva Louise thinks she was seeing when she explores a house. For example, Minerva Louise "sees" a tractor, but it's actually a bike, etc. The story really helps encourage vocabulary and knowing the differences between things.

I have done a chicken theme for story time at the library, but I haven't used this book yet. I'll definitely be starring it as a must for the next chicken-themed bilingual story time I do.