Hanna JohansenRecensioni

Amüsanter Blick aus Sicht der Katze auf die menschliche Familie und andere tierische Familienmitglieder (Hund, Maus, Vogel)

Match found in the German National Library.

This book brings a very good message through its use of colorful illustrations and textual connections. Henrietta is a chicken that grows up on a dirty, tiny farm with three thousand three hundred and thirty-three chickens. She tells herself that when she becomes old enough to lay eggs, hers will be golden. Through dreaming of being able to swim and sing outside of the chicken coop, she begins to peck a hole through the coop. When the other chickens discover her relationship to the outside, they join in and soon escape to the outside. After many attempts to contain the chickens, the owners make it possible for the chickens to go in and out of their coop. In the end, Henrietta ends up laying a regular brown egg. She never loses hope in this story and makes it seem possible for anybody to dream big.

Calla un momento, quiero oír...

Pleasant enough, with lively & lifelike pen&ink illustrations.  I think the cover is the most coolest thing about it, though, with that intent glare....

"Ich lerne Klavier spielen." Mit diesem Satz beginnen am 22. September die Aufzeichnungen, in denen die Ich-Erzählerin in Hanna Johansens neuem Buch "Der Herbst, in dem ich Klavier spielen lernte" während dreier Monate dieses Vorhaben protokolliert, das sie weit in die Kindheit in Norddeutschland führt und wieder zurück in die Gegenwart, zur Gartenarbeit im Herbst, zum Wechsel von Beständigkeit und Verlust von Fähigkeiten und Kräften, zur Frage nach dem Zuhause. Wie lernte das Kind, das sie einmal war, die wichtigen Dinge für das Leben? Wie verändert sich das Lernen mit dem Älterwerden? Diese Fragen treiben die Schreiberin um.

Translated by John Barrett: Booktalk: You live in a big house. It may be big but it's crowded with everyone living there and you only have room enough for your own two feet. There are lots of pushing and shoving going on and you're losing your feathers because you keep getting pecked at. Your name is Henrietta, you are one of 3,333 chickens on the farm, you live in a chicken coop that stinks of chicken droppings and fortified chicken feed and you're not going to take it anymore! So one day you peck and scratch in the chicken coop, peck and scratch, peck and scratch until you make a hole big enough for you to get through, and when you do, you know you're never gonna be cooped up in no stinkin' chicken house anymore!

After twenty years of marriage, a woman finds herself out of place. Her teenage daughter tell her she does not need to take efforts to raise them. She neglects house-holding, and when she suffers inexplicable pains in all limbs it is decided that she should spend some time in a sanatorium. At first, she can think of nothing but going there with her husband, but eventually goes there alone. The three-week stay at the sanatorium benefits her above expectations. She is refreshed physically, mentally and spiritually. Glances and attention from men at the hotel raise her awareness of herself, and she breaks off her stay, with longing for her husband, eager to return home.

Back home she is baffled by the fact that nothing there has changed. She has changed, but at home nothing has. She initiates sex with her husband, only to find him jealous, irritated asking her whether she has takes lessons with other men in the art of love. Long discussions in bed lead to the conclusion that she is no longer in her place. She leaves her home, and in the following weeks finds ever increasing hostility among her husband and two daughters. However, her new with her consciousness she knows her judgement is right.

They had been so happy when they got married, Adam and Eva, their names made them destined for each other, their bedroom paradise with a painting of the Garden of Eden on all four walls. It took Eva twenty years to find out she had been nothing but a pet animal.

Immerhin hat es zwanzig Jahre gedauert, mein Leben als Haustier. (p. 131)

Kurnovelle by the Swiss author Hanna Johansen deals with unhappy love. With snidy irony, the marriage and attitude of the husband are analyzed. It is surprising that for all the positive effects of feminism, there are but few books of this kind around.

While in some ways the book is very feminine, the theme and the irony make it readable for a much wider audience, men and women alike.

Great illustrations in this book about a cat who tries to teach the humans around him.

Do you dream the impossible dream? Meet Henrietta . . . She lives in a cramped, smelly, sickly chicken house with 3,332 other chickens. Henrietta is determined to learn to sing, swim, and fly until she is old enough to achieve her dream of laying golden eggs. The other chickens laugh at her meager attempts, but Henrietta ignores the criticism and leads the chickens to a better life. Henrietta’s true motivations are revealed when she finally lays a brown egg, and responds to the laughs of the chickens by saying, “Did you really believe that a chicken could lay golden eggs?” By aiming for the impossible, Henrietta empowers the other chickens to rebel against the status quo and dream their own dreams.
Käthi Bhend’s expressionistic pen and ink drawings detail the strength and persistence of Henrietta’s desire to go against the flow and lead the chickens to a better life. The gold page numbers and borders contrast the black and white illustrations, symbolizing Henrietta’s leadership and individualism.
Originally written in German by John S. Barrett and translated by Hanna Johansen, Henrietta and the Golden Eggs, is a great example of how one person can affect the lives of many through persistence and believing in oneself. The patterns in the story resemble the “I think I can” mentality of The Little Engine that Could, but the narrative appeals to older readers. Recommended for grades 4-9.
 Award:
o Mildred L. Batchelder Award, Honor Book, 2003

44

Retrieved a record: Bibliographic match uncertain.