Aww... Definitely better read during the winter holiday season than in June, I think, when the family can love the magic and the mushiness without worrying about stuff like plausibility. ( )

Poulette, Collette, and Fifi are three French hens who are part of a young woman's Christmas gift to her true love, Philippe Renard, in Paris. Unfortunately, they become separated from the two turtle doves and the partridge in a pear tree and end up in a New York City post office. Rather than sit around, the three French hens decide to deliver themselves. But, alas! There is no Philippe Renard in the phone book. Realizing that French is not spoken here, the three French hens decide to translate. They manage to locate a Phil Fox instead. The fox is delighted when free lunch arrives on his doorstep and conveniently allows the hens to believe he is Philippe Renard. It doesn't look good for the three French hens. Will the three French hens end up roasted as dinner or will they outsmart the crafty fox and live happily ever after? Read this adorable and humorous Christmas tale to find out.

The Bottom Line: Author Margie Palatini offers a whimsical take on The Twelve Days of Christmas highlighting friendship. When the characters are confronted with a challenge, they come up with a plan to set things right. It's a classic example of turning lemons into lemonade. Recommended for school and library story times for kids in grades Pre-K - 3. Kids will delight in Egielski's watercolor drawings as well. For more books, activities, and games, visit Margie Palatini's website. You can also find out more about illustrator Richard Egielski.

This review also appears at the Mini Book Bytes Book Review Blog. ( )

An even better Palatini holiday book than Mooseltoe. Very enjoyable. ( )

Dispatched by a Parisian mademoiselle to her true love, three French hens - Colette, Poulette, and Fifi - find themselves significantly misdirected in this humorous reinterpretation of one of the verses of that favorite holiday carol, The Twelve Days of Christmas. Winding up in the Unclaimed Mail Department of the New York City Post Office, the three fowl ladies decide that, the postal service having failed them, they will deliver themselves, and set off to find their mademoiselle's true love. Assuming that "Phil Fox," whom they discover in the phone-book, must be the one (after all, his name is simply a translation of "Philippe Renard"), they present themselves on his doorstep in the Bronx. Will Phil - a down-on-his-luck fox, who hasn't eaten in some time - gobble them down? Or will he discover that sometimes, if you wait, better things come along...?

Margie Palatini has a knack for reinterpreting classic story themes in new and amusing ways, and I have enjoyed her forays into the world of Aesop's fables (Lousy Rotten Stinkin' Grapes), and witchy tales (Piggie Pie!). An amusing, lighthearted romp, Three French Hens is definitely in that same vein, offering a pleasantly revisionist take on a traditional "tale" (in as much as the song can really be considered a tale, rather than a list), while also reflecting the spirit of the season, and its ability to bring people together, against the odds. I particularly liked the revelation about the hens, at the end - very ecumenical! Recommended to Margie Palatini fans, and to all young readers who appreciate humorous holiday tales! ( )

This story is about three French hens who were sent by a woman to her true love, but the man never received the hens. Instead, the hens end up stranded in an airport! They translate, incorrectly, the name of the man they were being sent to, and end up at a hungry fox's door. The fox lets them in and prepares to eat them for dinner, but they treat him so well that he cannot stand to eat them. He then admits to them his previous plan, but they call him their friend. This starts a great friendship, and they celebrate Christmas and Hanukkah together. This would be a good holiday time book to share with students, and also good to discuss motive and friendship. Activities for this book can be found at www.margiepalatini.com.