The Chicken Cat

Sylvia Pantaleo is an assistant professor of education specializing in
children’s literature at Queen’s University. She is the co-author of
Learning with Literature in the Canadian Elementary Classroom.

Merlin is an orphaned kitten, and Guinevere, the oldest hen on the farm,
takes him under her wing. Merlin loves Guinevere and listens carefully
to her cluckings about her dream to fly. Unfortunately, Guinevere knows
very little about raising a kitten and Merlin becomes scrawny and
malnourished.

One morning a child wanting a kitten visits the barn. Just as the child
and her mother are leaving, Guinevere rushes across the barnyard and
deposits Merlin at the young girl’s feet. Merlin blacks out from
Guinevere’s dash. When he wakes up, he finds himself in the child’s
bedroom on the third floor of an old house. As he looks out of the
window and watches the birds fly, he realizes that he must help
Guinevere fulfil her dream.

One hot August day when the family has every window open in the house,
Merlin takes flight and flies back to the barnyard. After a joyful
reunion with Guinevere, he lures her to the top of the hen house, tells
her to grab hold of his tail with her beak, then leaps onto the first
breeze. Guinevere finds that her heart seems to grow wings and together
they fly through the countryside.

McLellan’s entertaining farmyard fantasy shows the power of love and
determination. Cassidy uses watercolors, gouache, and colored pencils to
bring this delightful story to life. Recommended.