The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly

August 26, 2013
The road of life is paved with hardships, even tragedy. Fate is implacable; we all must die. Yet it’s possible to achieve happiness, and to make a positive contribution to humanity, if one perseveres. This is the lesson of this simply told but absorbing fable, a two million–copy bestseller in South Korea, and a story that will appeal to readers of self-help. The protagonist is a philosophically restless hen who yearns to raise a chick, but her eggs are collected daily by the farmer’s wife. The hen encapsulates her longing in the name Sprout, which she gives to herself, signifying the fecundity of nature. Determined “to do something with her life,” Sprout escapes from her cage into the barnyard, but she’s shunned by all its denizens except another outsider like herself, a mallard duck called Straggler. His lifesaving friendship enables Sprout to achieve one of her dreams: she hatches an egg she discovers in a briar patch, at first unaware that her offspring is not a chick, but a duckling. The book explores the joys of parenthood and the sacrifices required to nurture the next generation, the healing bonds of friendship, and the tug-of-war between nature and nurture. Spare but evocative line drawings by the Japanese artist Nomoco add to the subtle charm of this slim volume. B&w illus.

October 1, 2013
Published to great success in Korea, Hwang's short novel is an adroit allegory about life. Sprout's a caged laying hen on a small farm. Sprout yearns for freedom, for a chance to mother one of the eggs taken from her. She has given herself the name Sprout because she "wanted to do something with her life, just like the sprouts on the acacia tree," something she only sees in her rare glimpses of the world outside flourishing in the barnyard. In her discontent, Sprout grows morose, frail, only to find herself culled from the flock and tossed into the "Hole of Death." Sprout, near suffocation, hears a warning from Straggler, a stray mallard duck tagging along with the farm's other ducks. She's in danger of being scavenged by a weasel. That night, Sprout slips into the barn with the other farm animals, but she's shunned. The lonely Sprout decides to follow Straggler and one of the other ducks out beyond the farm. The other duck is killed, but Sprout finds her egg. With brave Straggler standing watch for the deadly weasel, Sprout broods the egg, thinking, "My dreams are coming true." But after the egg hatches, she begins to comprehend that Baby, as she calls him, will grow to become Greentop, a duckling with his own destiny. Hwang has penned an anthropomorphic allegory with allusions to prejudice, to sacrifice and to the recognition of destiny, a fable in the vein of classics like Charlotte's Web and Jonathan Livingston Seagull. Hwang's story of Sprout also speaks of family and love, of courage and loss, and of the value of the individual in the face of mindless conformity. Translator Kim does stellar work in rendering the tale into colloquial English, and the narrative is decorated with minimalist pen-and-ink drawings from the Japanese artist Nomoco. A subtle morality tale that will appeal to readers of all ages.

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October 1, 2013
This novella, translated from Korean, explores ideals of compassion, individuality, sacrifice, and motherhoodall through a crew of barnyard animals. Confined to laying eggs in the chicken coop, scraggly hen Sprout has but a single dream: to hatch her own chick. When she's culled from the coop, Sprout narrowly escapes a weasel's clutches, thanks to Straggler, the misfit mallard duck. Soon Sprout discovers an abandoned egg in a briar patch, and contentedly settles on top of it, her dreams finally realized. Straggler brings fish to the nest and keeps the roaming weasel at bay, eventually forfeiting his life for the sake of the soon-to-be hatchling. It's survival of the fittest, barnyard-style, with a plucky, fiercely protective hen at the helm. The fable, which has sold more than two million copies in Korea, is in Kim's able hands; the English translation moves smoothly and straightforwardly and is aided by graceful black-and-white illustrations by Japanese artist Nomoco. Recalling Jonathan Livingston Seagull (1970), this slim but powerful tale will resonate with readers of all ages, who can take it at face value or delve deeper into its meditations on living courageously and facing mortality.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)