Hey Chickens!

Book book book (read in a chicken voice)

Would you like to meet some chickens? Course you would!

Here’s a Leghorn:

A Leghorn is a real chicken, not just a cartoon character! Who knew?

And a bustling Orpington on the left with a silver-laced Wyandotte on the right:

Orpington is not just a town in Kent! Who knew?

I’ve become quite the chicken expert since working on the loveliest book about them.

Chick, Chick, Chick, Chick Chicken was published on Thursday. It’s written by the amazing

Vivian French

, illustrated by me, designed by Laurissa Jones and published by Walker Books (Candlewick in the US).

The story follows a trip to Grandpa’s house and introduces lots of types of chickens and how to look after them.

Here’s a little taste of the amount of chicken drawing that went into this book:

it was a lot!

Have you ever drawn chickens? They are such lovely odd shapes and they tend to potter about, rather than run, making them brilliant to draw. And, of course, they have so much personality!

Not a chicken, of course, but a cockerel - I know my stuff now!

I was lucky enough to have drawn some chickens at a farm school a few years ago, so I got that old sketchbook out.

For some breeds of chicken I used YouTube videos so I could see them from lots of different angles and see how they move.

Drawing from life is always the best way to properly see something though.

Coincidentally, just before starting work on this book I visited Parc du Thabor in Rennes. It’s a beautiful, enormous public park - with an area dedicated to chickens!

me and a Coucou de Rennes

The Coucou de Rennes doesn’t appear in the new book but I’m going to tell you about it anyway:

It’s a rare and special Breton chicken that nearly became extinct after WW2. It’s been slowly making a comeback since the late 1980’s. The tourist board charmingly describes this chicken as a “large and elegant hen like no other”.

Every chicken becomes more fascinating the more you look at it and read about it! Next time you see a chicken, draw it - you’ll love it!

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Chick, Chick, Chick, Chick Chicken is out now in UK, ROI, USA, Canada and Australia.

Kirkus Reviews says “This introduction to backyard chicken keeping couldn’t be sweeter”

Available from your favourite local independent bookshop or online via Bookshop.org

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