Sonya raises her three chickens from the time they are tiny chicks. She feeds them, shelters them and loves them. Everywhere Sonya goes, her chicks are peeping at her heels. Under her care, the chicks grow into hens and even give Sonya a wonderful gift: an egg! One night, Sonya hears noises coming from the chicken coop and discovers that one of her hens has disappeared. Where did the hen go? What happened to her? When Sonya discovers the answers, she learns some important truths about the interconnectedness of nature and the true joys and sorrows of caring for another creature. K-Gr 2—Sonya's dad gives her three tiny chickens to raise on their farm, telling her that she is responsible for keeping them happy and making sure they have full bellies and a warm place to sleep. She does her job well, and soon the chickens become full-grown hens. When one of them is killed by a fox looking for food to feed his family, her father explains that the fox father had to care for his kits, just as he himself cared for Sonya and she cared for her chicks. The family holds a funeral for the hen, and Sonya is further comforted when she discovers a brown egg in the henhouse hatching, so she soon has a new baby chick to care for. This lesson of the interdependence among all living things in nature is gently told, accompanied by colorful watercolor and collage illustrations that show the multicultural family's life on a farm. At the end, Sonya is cuddling her new chick and showing her little brother how to provide for its care. The story presents the circle of life in a very comforting but realistic manner. The bright pictures do not mince matters: one shows the fox with the hen in his mouth but the next balances it with him curled up protectively in his den with the kits. VERDICT Most libraries will want to include this lovely book in their picture book collections.—Judith Constantinides, formerly at East Baton Rouge Parish Main Library, LA A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the 21st Century One of School Library Journal 's Ultimate Children’s Literature Illustrator Gift Guide 2018 PRAISE FOR Sonya's Chickens : "There's an old-fashioned feel to this simple story and its timeless illustrations, created with watercolor, collage, and colored pencil and reminiscent of Goodnight Moon in mood, design, and palette. . . . A reassuring story about death in the natural world, thoughtfully designed and illustrated." -- Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews “This lesson of the interdependence among all living things in nature is gently told, accompanied by colorful watercolor and collage illustrations that show the multicultural family’s life on a farm. . . . The story presents the circle of life in a very comforting but realistic manner.” -- Starred Review, School Library Journal “The book combines the different emotions of joy, caring, passion, compassion and sadness in a most wonderful and simple way for a young child to grasp and appreciate. The flow of the story is captivating and the style would without doubt keep a child reading the text to the end.” -- The Deakin Review of Children’s Literature “The brilliantly colored artwork, produced in watercolor, collage, and colored pencil, is stunning. . . . The circled arms of her family mimic the embrace of the fox with his kits, emphasizing the oneness of the natural world’s food chain in our interconnected world.” -- Booklist Artist Phoebe Wahl's work focuses on themes of comfort, nostalgia and intimacy with nature. She grew up unschooled in Washington State, and credits her free spirited childhood in the Northwest for much of her inspiration and work ethic. She works in a variety of mediums, from watercolor and collage to fabric sculpture. Phoebe graduated from Rhode Island School of Design with a BFA in Illustration and currently lives in Bellingham, Washington.