A brown, toeless hen and a servile, stray dog become friends as the dog becomes the guardian and protector of the injured hen. The animals in this book are real, hardly anthropomorphized at all. The dog follows his natural instinct to serve and obey and protect. The hen follows her natural bent to lay eggs and protect them from all danger. And the man in the story is slow to understand what is really happening in his barnyard right under his nose.

This story would appeal to any child who lives on a farm, especially if that farm has chickens. The chicken in the story are quite unintelligent, and yet the brown hen, at least is somewhat endearing and becomes the man’s pet as well as the dog’s “purpose and duty.” I just loved the idea that this story could possibly really happen. The animals think animal thoughts, not human ones, and although the man in the story talks to his animals, he is unlike Dr. Doolittle. The animals don’t talk back, and the man doesn’t really understand much of what drives them to act as they do.

This book is the fourth one I’ve read by Mr. DeJong about animals, pets. Shadrach the Rabbit, Candy and Wayfarer the dogs, and the unnamed dog and hen in this story all have something in common. They all act as animals do, no magical or talking pets in these books, and yet each of them has its own personality and its own affections. I’m more and more impressed by Meindert DeJong’s ability to see inside the mind of both children and animals and to write about them in a way that feels natural and wise and insightful.