The Featherless Chicken by Chih-Yuan Chen Grades K-3 40 pages Heryin Books September 2006 Hardcover     In a flower patch, a chicken hatches from an egg and finds that it is entirely featherless. Lacking feathers, it sneezes and shivers all the time, vulnerable to the elements. One day the featherless chicken sees four beautiful chickens bedecked in feathers and finery, and asks to join them on their boat ride but is spurned because of its odd appearance. When the featherless chicken accidentally picks up some “feathers,” it is invited to join the other chickens on their boat, where the new friends discover that beneath the surface, they are all the same after all. The Featherless Chicken is a gentle and amusing story about looking past differences to find the similarities. The lively and sophisticated artwork, quirky typewriter-style font, and thick, high quality paper all lend charm to this whimsical tale.     web reviews   Usha Rao/2011 for curled up with a good kid's book   For grown-up fiction, nonfiction and speculative fiction book reviews, visit our sister site Curled Up With a Good Book (www.curledup.com)