children’s

www.peachtree-online.com

ISBN 978 1 56145 564 5 $15.95

printed�and�bound�in�singapore

written by

illustrated by

LesterL. Laminack

Henry Cole

Everything was quiet on the

Tuckers’ farm…until the day

that peacock showed up…

When a glamorous visitor lands

unexpectedly in their midst and

begins attracting new customers,

three unhappy hens protest:

“How come we do all the

hard work and he gets

all the attention?”

To keep the peace, the wise old

hound dog makes a suggestion:

“Why don’t you

just swap jobs?”

What will happen when three

gussied-up hens spend the day

strutting and prancing down by

the road? And will that peacock

ever figure out how to lay an egg?

Lester L. LaminackLester�L.�Laminack�is�a�specialist�in�

children’s�literacy�and

professor�emeritus�

at�Western�carolina

university.�he�has

written�a�number�of

books�for�children,

including�saTurdays and Teacakes and

snoW day!�a�familiar�speaker�at�con-

ferences,�Laminack�is�also�the�author

of�several�professional�books�for�

educators.�he�lives�in�north�carolina.

www.lesterlaminack.com

Henry Coleis�the�illustrator�of

more�than�forty

books�for�children,

including�the�New

York Times best-

selling�The Leprechaun's GoLd by

pamela�duncan�edwards,�the�best-

selling�LiTTLe Bo by�Julie�andrews

edwards,�and TanGo Makes Three by

peter�parnell�and�Justin�richardson,

and�oink! by�Margie�palatini,�in�addi-

tion�to�many�of�his�own�picture�books.

he�lives�in�Florida.

www.henrycole.net

ISBN 13: 978 1 56145 564 5

ISBN 10: 1 56145 564 4 $15.95

LA

MIN

AC

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CO

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Thre

e H

ens a

nd a

Peacock

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Published by PEACHTREE PUBLISHERS1700 Chattahoochee AvenueAtlanta, Georgia 30318-2112

www.peachtree-online.com

Text © 2011 by Lester L. LaminackIllustrations © 2011 by Henry Cole

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations inprinted reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Illustrations created with watercolor, ink, and colored pencil on 100% rag,archival watercolor paper. Text typeset in Microsoft Corporation’s Tahoma by Matthew Carter; title typeset in Blue Vinyl Font’s Meringue BV by Jess Latham.

Printed and manufactured in Singapore10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 First Edition

Laminack, Lester L., 1956-Three hens and a peacock / written by Lester L. Laminack ;

illustrated by Henry Cole.p. cm.

ISBN 978-1-56145-564-5[1. Farm life--Fiction. 2. Contentment--Fiction. 3. Peacocks--Fiction.

4. Chickens--Fiction. 5. Hounds--Fiction. 6. Dogs--Fiction.] I. Cole, Henry, 1955- ill. II. Title.

PZ7.L1815Thr 2011[E]--dc22

2010031989

Dedicated to the spirit of Mr. Rogers who always said, “I like you just the way you are.”

—L. L. L.

Written by Lester L. Laminack Illustrated by Henry Cole

For Winnie, with much affection

—H. C.

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Things were quiet on the Tuckers’ farm.

The cows chewed their cud.

The hens clucked and pecked

and laid their eggs.

The old hound stretched out on the porch, watching and listening.

Once in a while someone would stop to buy tomatoes or corn,

perhaps a quart of milk.

Nothing unusual happened there.

Until…

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The cows and the hens and the old hound kept

right on doing what they’d always done.

But that peacock had never lived on a farm.

He had no idea what to do.

So he spread his fancy feathers and set to shrieking.

…that peacock showed up.

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Eventually, the peacock wandered down to the road.

When cars whizzed by, he shook his feathers

and cried out in his loudest voice.

Of course, folks stopped for a closer look.

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Day after day, more folks stopped to admire

the peacock, and they all bought

tomatoes and corn, eggs and milk.

Business on the Tuckers’ farm

was booming!

Everyone seemed happy to

have visitors stopping by…

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“Tha

t laz

ype

acoc

k gets all the attention

and we do all the work!”

…but trouble was brewing in the henhouse.

The hens were squawking and clucking

and flapping their wings. “We do all the work

around here. I’d like to see that peacock lay one single egg.”

“Exactly. He just struts around screaming.

I suppose fancy feathers are more important than laying eggs.”

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The peacock had heard every word.

For days, he moped about, moaning and groaning.

“I wish I could be more useful around here.”

“Humph,” clucked one hen. The others ruffled their feathers.

The old hound stretched and slowly raised his head.

“Why not let the peacock

stay here to be useful while

you hens take the glamorous

job down by the road?”

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“We’ll stop traffic for sure.

Why, you girls know I can

strut with the best of them.”

The peacock perked up.

“Let’s do it,” he declared.

“Tomorrow I’ll stay here,

sit on a nest, and cluck.”

The three hens began

clucking to one another.

“What a wonderful plan!”

“Yes, it’s a fabulous idea. Oh, ladies

we simply must fancy up our feathers

tonight. And nothing but our brightest

beads, bangles, and bows.”

“And we’ll get

all gussied up,”

said the hens.

“We’ll be so

glamorous!”

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At sunrise the next morning

the hens strutted down to the road.

The peacock marched right to the henhouse and poked his head inside.

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The peacock sucked in his tummy and wiggled from left

to right, trying to squeeze through the tiny henhouse door.

His front half was in. His back half was out.

The hens flocked by the road, waiting for a car.

When they saw one approaching, they clucked and

squawked and flapped their wings in a flurry of feathers.

But every car whizzed right on by.

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Down by the road, those hens

tried every chicken trick

they knew.

Still no cars stopped.

Finally, the peacock made it into the henhouse.

He held his breath and pushed with all his might, but

no matter how hard he tried he could not lay a single egg.

Not one.

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The old hound stretched out

on the porch, watching and listening.

“What’s that peacock doing in the

henhouse?” asked Farmer Tucker.

“Who knows,” said Mrs. Tucker.

“And what are those hens doing down

by the road? Not a one of them

is up here laying eggs.”

“Well, the way things are going,

we aren’t likely to have anyone buying

eggs today,” said Farmer Tucker.

“We need that peacock down there

stopping cars!”

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I AM helping! he thought. He squirmed back and

forth until he popped out of the cramped henhouse.

Then he trotted off to find the hens.

When the peacock heard that, he smiled the

biggest smile you ever saw on a bird’s beak.

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“What a

day.”The exhausted hens were all clucked out.

Every feather was out of place.

“We couldn’t get one car to

stop.”

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he said. “I’m just not meant for it.”

One hen nodded, “I put on my stellar strut and even I couldn’t

stop a single car,” she said. “I have to hand it to you, Fancy

Feathers, your job is harder than it looks.”

“It’s true. Why, most of them didn’t even slow

down.”

The peacock met the hens

as they trudged up the road.

“I can tell you I’m no good at laying eggs,”

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The other hens agreed. The peacock looked relieved.

So the hens marched back to the henhouse.

The peacock strutted down to the road.

The old hound stretched out on the porch,

watching and listening.

And things were quiet again

on the Tuckers’ farm.

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