One Little Chicken

How much work can one little chicken be?

When Leora finds a chicken in her front yard, she imagines keeping it as a pet and gathering eggs for breakfast every morning. But her mother has a very different view. Following a Jewish law that says ”finders aren’t keepers,” Mrs. Bendosa is determined that the family should care for the chicken just until its rightful owner returns. Soon, however, one little chicken becomes a flock of chickens, a flock of chickens becomes two goats, two goats become a herd of goats…until—Oh! What a house!


Elisa Kleven’s exquisitely detailed folk art brings Elka Weber’s humorous retelling of a traditional tale to life and promises to leave readers pondering the adage, “finders, keepers.”

ELKA WEBER is married and the mother of five children. Her previous book with Tricycle, The Yankee at the Seder, won a Sidney Taylor Honor Award.

ELISA KLEVEN is the author and/or illustrator of many well-loved books for children, among them Welcome Home Mouse, A Carousel Tale, The Lion and the Little Red Bird, The Puddle Pail, Abuela (written by Arthur Dorros), and The Paper Princess. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, daughter, son, dogs and cats.