Mornings for Peggy the chicken in her suburban backyard always start with breakfast, bird watching (pigeons), and a little jumping on the trampoline. But one blustery day, the wind picks her up mid-bounce. “Peggy landed with a soft thud. She was far from home.” Peggy is a take-things-as-they-come kind of chicken, so she sets off to explore this bustling new environment. The visual humor in Anna Walker’s picture book about a chicken in the city is priceless, whether it’s Peggy times eight displayed on every screen in the window of an electronics store while her human doppelganger (a young man with a red Mohawk haircut) passes by, or her numerous encounters with other sights and sounds (e.g., escalators, movie theater, high-fashion shoes, bargain-bin shopping). The straightforward narrative is the perfect counterpoint to the charm of the visual storytelling, which incorporates both full-page art and an array of smaller snapshot illustrations showing the black bundle of feathers that is Peggy on her adventure. Homesick by day’s end, Peggy eventually finds her way back to the suburbs, but her world has been expanded. (Ages 4–9)

Peggy the hen is contented with her quiet existence and daily routine. When a powerful gust of wind sweeps her up and deposits her in the midst of a busy city, she explores her new surroundings, makes new friends, and cleverly figures out how to get home--with a newly kindled appetite for adventure. Evocative full-color paintings follow Peggy's journey, offering comical details that reward repeated viewing. This reassuring tale and its unruffled heroine invites discussions of exploration, safety, and resourcefulness