Daisy Comes Home

Picked on, pecked, and jostled, Daisy the hen is not quite as happy as her Happy Hens market basket might suggest. One evening, fed up with the other pushy hens, Daisy crawls into one of the baskets by the river, and falls asleep. Unaware of the rising river, this put-upon bird winds up floating downstream, past marauding monkeys, snorting water buffalo, and a greedy fisherman. Will Daisy ever make her way back to the home of the little girl Mei Mei and the six happiest hens in all of China? Breaking away from her usual Scandinavian illustrations and stories, Jan Brett embraces the beauty of China in this Story About Ping-inspired picture book. Bamboo poles frame the lavish illustrations of picturesque villages, strangely shaped mountains (Brett incorporates images of the animals into the ranges), and river-life characters. As in The Hat and her many other tales, Brett advances the plot with miniature border details. (Ages 4 to 7) --Emilie Coulter