Trouble in the Hen House; Susan O'Meara, illustrated by Yvonne Mes

Hot days are pretty much the norm in Australia but that doesn’t mean they are not without their problems. And chooks in the sun equals eggs over done!

Sunny weather means bad news for the hens in the hen house. Daisy, Audrey and Ellie May are supposed to be laying egg-cellent eggs but the baking sun is causing all sorts of problems and the chooks’ feathers are all a fluster. Eggs are coming out boiled, fried and scrambled and unless Farmer John can cool his chooks down they’ll be leaving for good…

How do you like your eggs? Boiled, fried and scrambled are in plentiful supply in this cracking read, not that the three feathered friends are happy about it. What they really want is to cool down but the ideas that Farmer John has create more problems than solutions.

Told in a delightful rhyming story and with and plenty of expressive illustrations - who knew chooks could show so many different emotions - there’s plenty of fun to be found on the farm, or more precisely, trouble to be found in the hen house. Disgruntled chickens with attitude, problematic eggs, a frazzled farmer, inventive solutions and a very surprising ending make for an egg-citing story.

I quite like the idea of a chicken that could lay pre-cooked eggs and I’m sure young readers will love joining in the farmyard fun.

With huge thanks to Yellow Brick Books for the copy I received in exchange for an honest review.

Recommended for 3+.