Three French Hens

On the third day of Christmas a mademoiselle from Paris sent her true love three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree - but the hens never arrive. A mis-delivery to Phil Fox from the Bronx leads to the promise of good meal - even if the French hens have to pull out some French culinary skills in the process...

When I was a child, no children's illustrator ever freaked me out quite as effectively as Richard Egielski. I will explain. Does the title, "Louis the Fish" ring any bells? How about "Hey, Al"? Egielski is one of those illustrators who's style seemingly does not change until you compare the authors he's worked with. When Egielski worked with Arthur Yorinks the result was freaky/creepy/wonderful picture books that somehow tapped into their child readers' subconscious minds. These days, however, Egielski is far more likely to be seen pairing with authors like Margie Palatini. Palatini and Egielski both worked on "The Web Files", a perfectly nice but peculiar "Dragnet" ala the preschool set book. "Three French Hens" is yet another interesting title though this one is running far more along the lines of a kinder-aged "Trading Spaces" with some holiday cheer for spice. It's the third day of Christmas and a lovely mademoiselle from Paris has sent her true love three French hens. Though the fellow receiving this gift lives on 3 Rue de Margie in Paris, the birds end up lost en route and stuck in the unclaimed mail department of New York City. Intrepid fowl they be, so they reason that since they were bound for a Philippe Renard, in English they must locate a Phil Fox. Enter Phil. Phil lives in the Bronx in a dumpy apartment with only a cockroach for companionship. He's also starving and the appearance of three plump French hens at his doorstep whets his whistle considerably. Before he can pop any one of the three into his mouth, however, he is whisked into a bath by Colette, has his place redesigned by Poulette, and has a magnificent French dinner prepared by Fifi. Guiltily, Phil confesses that he is not Philippe Renard at all. Of course the hens do not care. They are his friends and the four go off to celebrate Christmas and Hanukkah (the hens are kosher) in a cart in the park. You can't knock Egielski's work on this one. When we first see Phil his pants are held up by a rope, his fur is clumped and natty, and his ears askew. A little pampering later and you can see that even his tail has become full and silky under the hens' care. Egielski excels at details. For example, the hens ride the subway perched on the bar attached to the ceiling. I was also rather attached to Fifi's leather and sunglasses riding outfit. The artist also avoids making a mistake many children's book illustrators make. He doesn't put the chickens on a wrongly lettered or numbered subway train. You laugh but there are hundreds of children's books out there that make this very mistake day in and day out. On a first read-through I was enchanted by the tale. Fun is the word for it. There are plenty of picture books out there where the hungry predator comes to care for its potential prey. The best known right off the top of my head would have to be "The Wolf's Chicken Stew" by Keiko Kasza. That kind of story can be a lot of fun. Then I read "Three Fren

Three French hens -- Poulette, Colette, and Fifi -- get lost in the mail in New York City. They were supposed to be part of a holiday delivery to Monsieur Philippe Renard, and they can't find him in the phone book. But of course! They must translate! And so they end up on the Bronx doorstep of Phil Fox. Phil is a real fox whose only friend is the cockroach he shares a home with. Suddenly his home is bustling with hens, and his mouth begins to water in anticipation of a scrumptious holiday meal. I'd better stop there, so you'll have a reason to read this book. What fun! It'll be great holiday fare for beginning readers and their parents. It should also appeal to most adults on many levels: the meaning of friendship, the spirit of the holidays, the amusement a child's picture book can bring. A worthy companion to the Grinch.