In honor of Thanksgiving, today I have a poultry-inspired nonfiction picture book: The Hen Who Sailed Around the World.

This memoir of twenty-something Guirec Soudée’s solo sea journey around the world abounds with pluck and dash, largely because he wasn’t really solo. He shared his boat with his pet hen.

Soudée uses words and photo to tell the story of his three-year voyage with his hen, Monique. The hen provided comic relief in difficult moments, welcome companionship at lonely times, and nutritious eggs when he was iced in for four moths.

I loved the details of how the minutiae of a trip like this works. The author doesn’t shy away from the reasons it could be tough to be taking care of a chicken in the middle of the ocean, but it also becomes clear how meaningful the human-animal interaction was for him.

It was a great decision to use photos to illustrate the book. You are never in danger of forgetting that this was a real-life experience with a real, live person and a real, live chicken.

This book will appeal to animal lovers, to adventure lovers, and to memoir lovers.

The Hen Who Sailed Around the World by Guirec Soudée. Little Brown: 2018.

(Happy Thanksgiving!)

Alyson Beecher hosts the Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge at kidlitfrenzy.com. Visit there for more great nonfiction picture books!