At this time of year students in every educational setting are setting up data charts, loading incubators and hoping that each egg will hatch. They might be homeschooled, attending classes virtually or back to in person classes. No matter what form of schooling the children in your life are attending right now, there is a good chance that some of them will be incubating chicks.
Because I never did this project in school and I am not yet a parent, I learned about this through my job here at Incubator Warehouse. I got so excited hearing about all the plans teachers and parents had for these upcoming hatches, and loved chatting with them about which of our products would make it easiest on themselves and the kids, without giving up the hands on nature of this project. And as someone who has lots of educators in their family, it is important to me to help support teachers in their efforts to present a well rounded lesson plan and learning environment for their students.
From those seeds grew the idea for this blog post- a set of children's book reviews and suggestions that is all about chickens! There is a mix of educational and fun, so hopefully you will find something that fits your needs. Either way, I hope this post helps teachers, parents and students as they look for ways to dig deeper into the topic of chickens.
Tyrannosaurus Rex vs. Edna The Very First Chicken
By Douglas Rees, Illustrated by Jed Henry
Suggested reading level: Preschool- 2nd grade
This book is my favorite of the ones I found while doing research for this post. It had great illustrations, and the imaginative storyline was charming and engaging. While it is clearly not a direct historical account- lets call this story an historical fiction- it would be an excellent jumping off point for introducing chicken history.
Because it is currently widely accepted by paleontologists that chickens and dinosaurs are genetically linked, you could also use this book as a jumping off point for talking about genetic families, evolution or the domestication of chickens. Personally, our emus remind me of raptors as they run around the property.
At the end of this book there is an author's note that clarifies that Edna and a trex would have been cousins, but that a fight like this wouldn’t have actually happened. Because of this informative blurb at the end of this excellent children’s book, I would highly recommend this book to anyone who will listen.
Hatching Chicks in Room 6
By Caroline Arnold
Suggested reading level: Preschool- 2nd grade
Mrs. Best is a Kindergarten teacher who keeps chickens in her backyard. One day, she brings eggs into the class. Together, they hatch the eggs and raise the chicks for a few weeks. Then the newly grown chickens go back to Mrs. Best’s backyard with her other chickens. In the end it is suggested that someday these chickens will lay the eggs that future classes hatch.
This book was densely packed with facts about chickens and their life cycle. Because of how informative this book is, I think it could also be suitable for some of the older grades. This book is also cool because it is not illustrated, but includes pictures of actual chickens. I think this book is a really great informative resource for teaching kids about the life cycle of chickens. Give it a read if you think this might benefit your students.
Chickens to the Rescue
By John Himmelman
Suggested reading level: Preschool- 3rd grade
On the Greenstalk farm, the people keep having problems. Farmer Greenstalk loses his watch down the well, Mrs. Greenstalk is too tired to make dinner and the duck steals the truck- just to name a few. And each time the chickens come to the rescue!
While this book does not add anything educational to the chicken incubation conversation, the simple sentences with repeated words would be a good book for early readers. This book is really fun, and has lots of funny details in the illustrations. The laws of physics clearly don’t apply to these chickens, and they have more outfit changes than a model at Fashion Week, but it is fun to see what shenanigans they get up to.
Hens for Friends
By Sandy D Lisle, Illustrated by Amelia Hansen
Suggested reading level: Preschool- 3rd grade
Aarón is a young boy whose family keeps six hens that they got from the Mother Hen Chicken Rescue. The majority of the book is spent detailing the chores and interactions that Aarón has with his chickens- although there is a brief mention of factory farms and a town hall meeting determining if chickens can be allowed in city limits.
The focus of this book is more on raising and loving chickens as pets. As someone who hears about many breeds of chickens, I love that there are so many different chickens shown in this book. This was a really cute, informative book that I would recommend to anyone who is raising backyard chickens!
I hope these recommendations help enrich your kids experience hatching chickens! Please comment your favorite of these books- or ones you would add to the list. I hope this helps, regardless of if this is for a class or yourself!
All suggested reading levels are based on the data provided in the Amazon.com listing for these books. We are not Amazon affiliates and will not be paid any money if you choose to purchase any of these books- which is why there aren’t any helpful links to them in the post. I just really like these books and want to share them with you!