You are the bravest kid you know.

You try things other kids won’t try. When their feet are on the ground, you climb higher, jump farther, and run faster. You have no limits because, as in the new book, “Pirate Chicken: All Hens on Deck” by Brian Yanish, illustrated by Jess Pauwels, even a big chicken can be brave.

Lily the Hen was like no other chicken in the coop.

While other hens were happy to peck in the dirt and roost, Lily loved science and reading and exploring. She looked toward the sky and imagined what was out there. She knew there were big things to see, and she aimed to see them.

And so, on the day the pirates came to the farm, Lily volunteered to join them.

It didn’t take long for the pirates to gather all the squawking hens and take them aboard the pirate ship, where Lily just kept silent and observed. The pirates barely noticed she was there but she noticed everything, including when to act – and on the night when the pirates landed on an island to celebrate their grand chicken capture, Lily quietly took over the ship.

In days to come, she taught the other hens to navigate and understand maps. She taught them about sailing, and they visited strange new places. She even taught them pirate songs and wild dances and how to steal like real bandits. It was an adventure, but the other hens were unhappy.

Lily made them do all the work, the cleaning and scrubbing! She made them sleep in tiny little nests and do homework! She might have a price on her head and her face on a WANTED poster but the other hens didn’t want Lily around one bit, so they staged a mutiny, took over the pirate ship, and made Lily walk the plank.

But just before she was about to make a big splash, Lily began to think. Was she really a pirate, or was she something else – something better? Maybe it was time for a smarter, more egg-selent plan…

Some of us are born leaders. Some of us happen to be chickens. Won’t it delight your child to find someone who’s both?

Indeed, “Pirate Chicken: All Hens on Deck” is a great preschool romp, but it’s not entirely for featherbrains. Author Brian Yanish’s Lily is a smart hen who wants more for herself, and she works to get it any way she can. And yet, she’s no m-egg-lomaniac, which tempers the story quite a bit and gives parents a chance to present sharing, quietly assertive behavior, and other traits of a good leader. Cooperation also makes its presence inside this book, but fun illustrations by Jess Pauwels make the story feel enjoyable, not preachy.

Certainly, children who love chickens will want this book read again and again. Little pirate wanna-be’s will arrrrrrrdore it, as will adventurous kids who love swashbuckling tales or silly stories. For them, “Pirate Chicken: All Hens on Deck” is a book they’ll squawk for.

“Pirate Chicken: All Hens on Deck” by Brian Yanish, pictures by Jess Pauwels
c.2019, Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
$17.99 / higher in Canada
32 pages