The Hen Who Dreamed she Could Fly

About

Sprout is a hen who has spent her entire life in a cage, laying eggs that are always taken away. When she finally escapes to the farmyard, she has one dream: to hatch an egg of her own. What she gets instead is an egg that isn't hers — a duckling she raises as her own, knowing that motherhood will demand everything from her, including the ending she can see coming. Hwang's fable works on two levels simultaneously: as a children's story about a brave chicken, and as a meditation on the courage required to want something the world says you can't have. The prose is simple, direct, and carries an emotional weight that sneaks up on adult readers. A small book about a hen who refuses to accept her life as given — and discovers that freedom and sacrifice are the same thing.