This book brings a very good message through its use of colorful illustrations and textual connections. Henrietta is a chicken that grows up on a dirty, tiny farm with three thousand three hundred and thirty-three chickens. She tells herself that when she becomes old enough to lay eggs, hers will be golden. Through dreaming of being able to swim and sing outside of the chicken coop, she begins to peck a hole through the coop. When the other chickens discover her relationship to the outside, they join in and soon escape to the outside. After many attempts to contain the chickens, the owners make it possible for the chickens to go in and out of their coop. In the end, Henrietta ends up laying a regular brown egg. She never loses hope in this story and makes it seem possible for anybody to dream big.

Translated by John Barrett: Booktalk: You live in a big house. It may be big but it's crowded with everyone living there and you only have room enough for your own two feet. There are lots of pushing and shoving going on and you're losing your feathers because you keep getting pecked at. Your name is Henrietta, you are one of 3,333 chickens on the farm, you live in a chicken coop that stinks of chicken droppings and fortified chicken feed and you're not going to take it anymore! So one day you peck and scratch in the chicken coop, peck and scratch, peck and scratch until you make a hole big enough for you to get through, and when you do, you know you're never gonna be cooped up in no stinkin' chicken house anymore!

Do you dream the impossible dream? Meet Henrietta . . . She lives in a cramped, smelly, sickly chicken house with 3,332 other chickens. Henrietta is determined to learn to sing, swim, and fly until she is old enough to achieve her dream of laying golden eggs. The other chickens laugh at her meager attempts, but Henrietta ignores the criticism and leads the chickens to a better life. Henrietta’s true motivations are revealed when she finally lays a brown egg, and responds to the laughs of the chickens by saying, “Did you really believe that a chicken could lay golden eggs?” By aiming for the impossible, Henrietta empowers the other chickens to rebel against the status quo and dream their own dreams.
Käthi Bhend’s expressionistic pen and ink drawings detail the strength and persistence of Henrietta’s desire to go against the flow and lead the chickens to a better life. The gold page numbers and borders contrast the black and white illustrations, symbolizing Henrietta’s leadership and individualism.
Originally written in German by John S. Barrett and translated by Hanna Johansen, Henrietta and the Golden Eggs, is a great example of how one person can affect the lives of many through persistence and believing in oneself. The patterns in the story resemble the “I think I can” mentality of The Little Engine that Could, but the narrative appeals to older readers. Recommended for grades 4-9.
 Award:
o Mildred L. Batchelder Award, Honor Book, 2003 ( )