The Problem With Chickens

by Bruce McMillan, Gunnella (Illustrations)

The ladies of Iceland have a problem: the birds lay their eggs in nooks on the sides of steep cliffs, so the ladies have a very difficult time getting any of the eggs for baking. They go to town to buy chickens to lay eggs for them instead. For a while, everyone is happy: there are plenty of eggs to bake plenty of yummy things. But the ladies' problems are far from solved, for the more time the chickens spend with the ladies, the more they begin to act like them too, until eventually they stop laying eggs all together. Now this is a problem indeed, but you can be sure, the clever ladies will find a solution. Full of fun and silliness, this lighthearted tale and vibrant illustrations are a delight.

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

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 26, 2005

Reviews

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

What an odd, imaginative, slightly kooky little book. I'm not quite sure what to make of it and dithered between being amused and bemused as I read it. Cool that it's set in Iceland, though; not many picture books are!

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Silly and fun story with cute artwork.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bruce McMillan spends his summers in Iceland where this book is set, an amusing story about, well, a problem with chickens. The women in this village love to cook and the birds nest too high on the rocks to gather the eggs. Their solutions is to purchase chickens, which goes well until the companionship is so good that the chickens begin to mimic the women’s lives and forget to be chickens, thus again, no eggs. The solution to this unique problem is cleverly worked out, more whimsy than truth. The illustrations are colorful paintings in a folk style, quite inviting. This illustrator lives in Iceland and is well known for her work. This is her first children’s book.

[Emily Kazmierski · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to check this out from the library because we are considering getting chickens and it looked hilarious. It was really sweet. The art was beautiful, and I especially enjoyed the art on the page when the chickens are creeping on the ladies drinking tea. That was especially funny. The store was cute as well.

[Peacegal · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a goofy story with a unique setting (Iceland) and whimsical illustrations. It has the feeling of one of the sillier fairy tales, and kids who giggle at silly humor will appreciate it.

Vegan parents will want to note that although the chickens have their own colorful personalities, the women buy and keep them solely for the purpose of collecting their eggs. The "trouble" begins when the hens stop laying and start mimicking their human keepers, and the village ladies have to resort to wacky means to inspire them to lay again. The core of the story is the desire to collect and eat bird eggs, which may not sit well with some families.

[Giorgia Cavalleri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is interesting . . . It's a silly story about how the ladies bring chickens back to their farm for eggs but the chickens start acting like humans. I like this book for the fact that I could see it in a classroom down here in BloNo because children may be very familiar with farms and how farm animals are supposed to act, but I don't think this book has much substance beyond being something silly to laugh at. I would probably also omit the part where it says that the men go to work all day while the ladies take care of the farm.

[Jessica Tracy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was between two and three stars and wasn't feeling generous today. It's not a bad book per se, but it really isn't fantastic either. The story is okay, and the illustrations are... very stylistic. In an art style I can appreciate, but personally do not like. It's a quirky story with quirky drawings. I wouldn't say no to reading this to kids, but I wouldn't want to read it more than once with them. If I had a child who wanted to read this on his or her own, by all means! Totally appropriate.

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 3 out of 5]

The women of Iceland have a problem: it's too difficult for them to gather the eggs of the birds that nest on the cliffs. They bought chickens to get eggs more easily, but soon a new problem arose...the chickens wanted to act like the women and didn't want to lay eggs. Now the women must find a way to solve this problem, too.

A gentle story set in Iceland.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were no chickens in Iceland and the women there liked to bake, but they could not reach the wild birds’ eggs on the cliffs. When they bought chickens, their problem was solved until the chickens stopped laying eggs. The ladies had to come up with a way to get those chickens to act like chickens again. Great illustrating.

[Shiloah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a fun book!

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny! My son laughed out loud with this read aloud.

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quirky folk tale. The ending was odd. My kid was confused.

[Library Lady Terri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Icelandic women with a problem came up with an ingenious solution!

[yerazness]

Çizimler süperdi.

[zunggg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quirky, audacious artwork elevates this amusing work of chick-fic to classic status.

[Stacie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Silly Icelandic chickens. Smart Icelandic ladies. Great story and even better illustrations!

[Eileen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This picture book is my selection for Iceland when reading around the world with young kids. It's silly, the art is stylized and it features big, strong women...and chickens.

[Nanosynergy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a lovely children's picture book set in Iceland. Loved the illustrations.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story here is problematic for me. This is a literay folktale, meaning that the author wrote it in a folktale style, and I know that foiktales often call for suspension of disbelief. However, to make this suspension work, it is important to have internal logic and that's where the story fails for me. There are already birds on the cliff that lay eggs, why go to the trouble to get the chickens there as well? Why do the chickens begin acting like ladies in the first place? The illustrations are done in bright, thick colors and are imitative of Icelandic folkart with their lack of perspective. I wanted to like this more than I did, because the concept caught my imagination - chickens decide to act like ladies and quit laying eggs; the ladies then fix the problem. The execution just fell a little flat for me.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of a quirky folk-like tale. The Icelandic village ladies can't get eggs (from native birds--Puffins?) from the cliffs so they buy some chickens. This solves the egg problem in the village until the chickens start acting like women--singing, having tea, parties, etc. The women start to exercise and the chickens follow suit. The ladies tell the chickens they're birds and the chickens fly to the cliffs and resume laying eggs. However now the women, from their exercising, are now strong enough to scale the cliffs to gather the eggs.
Yeah, the plotline is kinda lame and takes a bit more suspension of disbelief than most folk/fairy tales (or does it?), but this story is quirky enough that it's quite fun. And to be set in Iceland (with illustrations from a native Icelander) is delightful.

[Michelle Knudsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A group-mind story in which the ladies all act as one in order to solve their egg problem and then their chicken problem. The chickens, although secondary characters, also act as a group throughout. I love the dynamic between the two groups, and the story is both simple and satisfying—and delivers a nice little bonus punch toward the end (the ladies having gotten stronger along with the chickens - I enjoyed that more than the final intended punch on the last page).

[Jay Bushara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is this the sort of fable they tell in Iceland? Where chickens start acting like the ladies who farm them - too fussy, too clever, too soft - and then everyone commits themselves to a little yoga, some free weights, until the chickens remember what it is to be birds - flying and laying eggs - and the ladies learn how to climb mountains, and get out more? What does this tell us? About ourselves? Probably nothing. But those Icelanders sure know how to have a good time.

[Kartiá · Rating 3 out of 5]

This folktale relates a problem a small villiage in Iceland faces and how they fixed it. They loved to have eggs, but the brids were often on the cliffs of mountains. So they went to purchase chickens. The chickens began to take on the persona of the humans, causing noothing to get done. When the women are fed up with the chickens they devise a plan to solve their problem. This fun book can give children a quick laugh and casuse them to think of how they might solve problems.

[Ellen Brandt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This worked quite well with a Grade 2 ESL class who are studying world geography. Although this is clearly a work of fiction, it is set in a real country (Iceland). I asked the students to search the illustrations for clues about Iceland geography. We then verified the information by checking a nonfiction source

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another adorable book by Bruce McMillan and Gunella.
I honestly think it is the illustrations that make these books so much fun. The story line is quirky but cute. The illustrations are so much fun and full of vibrancy.
I love how these women in Iceland problem solve. Not in the traditional sense - but outside the box. Therein lies the genius of these books.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 3 out of 5]

According to the dust jacket, this is McMillan's 7th book on/set in Iceland. This was a strange tale about chickens acting like people and needing to be taught how to be birds again. I didn't like the fact that all the "ladies" were depicted as fat. I don't think they're all fat in Iceland!

[Sandra Stiles · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is based on an Icelandic tale. The story is about a village of women who buy checkens for their eggs. This is great until the chickens begin to act like humans doing what they do. The women find a creative solution that has an added benefit to it.

[Jackie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Huh? An odd sort of tale. Chickens start acting like ladies, until the ladies come up with a plan to thwart their new-found activity.

Used for "Cheep, Oink, and Moo: Chicken, Pork, and Beef" storytime-April, 2010.

[Ebony Hargett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely illustrated childrens book. This story clearly has a problem and clever solution. I would use this book to teach students how to introduce a problem and solution in writing stories. This book would make a great example to model for students.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

funny little story. but also confusing... but all around pretty cute