about the book
Daniel loves animals. He has a gerbil, a rat, a parakeet, and a whole tank full of guppies. Someday, he wants to be a veterinarian.
He also has the best teacher in the whole school, Mrs. Lopez. So far his third grade class has studied caterpillars and butterflies, tadpoles and frogs, and now she is bringing in an incubator and twelve eggs! At the end of the project, some of the lucky classmates will get to take chicks home!
Only five of the eggs end up hatching, and one by one, the other students who signed on to take the chicks home back out. Daniel ends up with all five! That’s okay because in his neighborhood in Portland, his eco-friendly family is allowed to raise chickens, as long as there is a coop and there aren’t any roosters. Roosters are just too noisy.
The chicks are cute and fuzzy and Ben and his sibs love them, though the birds end up being far more work and trouble than Daniel imagined. The clueless chickens cause tons of chaos and get into all sorts of mishaps. To top it off Mr. Grafalo, the grumpy neighbor, hates poultry and is always complaining.
Then one day, Daniel makes an astounding discovery. His favorite chick, Peepers, is a rooster!
Daniel and his sisters and brothers decide to form a Secret Chicken Society to protect Peepers. They work hard to hide him from their parents, the police, and the neighbors, especially Mr. Grafalo. It all works out fine until Peepers starts to crow! How do you muffle a rooster?
Thinking of getting your own chickens? At the end of the book, there is lots of information about raising chickens and even more interesting stuff in Daniel’s Egg Journal.
about the author
When she was growing up in San Francisco, Judy Cox, the oldest of five children, loved to tell and read stories to her younger siblings.
As she learned to read better and better, worlds opened up to her, and she decided she wanted to create stories as well. She started writing her first book when she was eleven (though she never even finished the first chapter). Throughout high school and college Judy kept writing, even submitting things to publishers— and compiling lots of rejection slips.
Judy became an elementary school teacher, and in the following years she taught kindergarten through third grade in Arizona, Oregon, and Idaho. Half-way through her teaching career Judy took some years off to raise her son. To entertain him, Judy would write down stories and poems inspired from her years as a teacher—and those were good enough to be published!
Today Judy has over 25 children’s books to her name, as well as over 30 short children’s stories published in magazines like Cricket and Spider.
Apart from writing, Judy enjoys reading, bird watching, and performing in a musical duo, Rewind, with a friend. Judy sings and plays the ukulele and the bass guitar. With her son now grown, she lives in Grants Pass, Oregon, with her husband.
Source:
Author website
Also by Judy Cox:
Ukelele Hayley. Holiday House. 2013.
Nora and the Texas Terror. Holiday House. 2010.
The Case of the Purloined Professor (Tails of Frederick and Ishbu, Book 2). Amazon Children’s Publishing. 2009.
Puppy Power. Holiday House. 2008.
read more!
Cake : Love, Chickens, and a Taste of Peculiar by Joyce Magnin
Abandoned by her mother, Wilma Sue is settling into her third foster home with missionary sisters, Ruth and Naomi. Wilma Sue soon finds herself part of a real home, taking care of chickens and helping Ruth make her magical cakes. When Wilma Sue is implicated in a series of crimes, the mystical sisters guide her with love and honesty.
Puppy Power by Judy Cox
A boisterous bully Fran has trouble controlling herself. She is rude and pushy; she cheats, taunts, and even injures others. When she lands the leading role in the school play, she is excited until she learns she has to behave or she’ll be replaced. She’s clueless, and it takes several sessions at a puppy behavior class with her rowdy Newfoundland puppy to open her eyes. Can both she and her dog learn to control themselves?
The Trouble with Chickens (J.J. Tully Mystery, Book 1) by Doreen Cronin
After retiring to a quiet farm after his career as a rescue dog, J.J.Tully is recruited by a mother hen to track down her two missing chicks. Tully comes up against a smart and formidable dachshund. Does he have the chicks? Tully’s nose will sniff out all the truth!