CONTENT:
The picturebook Millie's Chickens (2015), was written by Brenda Williams and illustrated by Valeria Cis. The main protagonist is Millie, a girl that takes care of her hens. The illustrations show various types of hens and their physical characteristics. Through the pages, the readers can discover how hens lay eggs of different shapes and colours, and how in spring eggs can hatch and give birth to chicks. The eggs that will not hatch are collected by Millie in her basket and used for cooking, thus they are not wasted. The picturebook shows how Mille takes care of the hens feeding them and protecting them from natural predators, such as the fox.
WHY USING THIS PICTUREBOOK:
Thanks to this picturebook, children can familiarize with hens and their life cycle. The book can activate children’s curiosity, making them develop an interest towards an animal that might be considered an ordinary one even though even though children might not know about their characteristics. The text is written in rhymes and each double spread opens with the expression “Here is/Here are”: this repetition generates predictability and expectation. The key words are written in bold, so that they can be noticed more easily. The written text and the illustrations combine in an enhancing interplay; this allows children to easily understand the general meaning thanks to the visual representation of salient aspects in the text, while also offering scope for personal interpretation and expansion.
