Nora’s Chicks by Patricia MacLachlan is a not-to-be-missed picture book that celebrates the life of a child and the challenges of making friends when you move to a new place. This story is absolutely lovely and the illustration by Kathryn Brown adds magic to it. (I really want Nora’s clothes…)

”The American prairie is far away from the trees and hills of Russia that Nora loves and misses. Her mother fills their home with colors and light, her little brother plays with his adopted dog, and her father sings to his horses and cows. Her family seems happy, but Nora needs something more.” – taken from the dust jacket

Nora’s family has emigrated to the American Prairie from Russia and to Nora, nothing looks like home. Her parents and little brother are happy, but Nora is lonely and longs for a friend to talk to. When they find a dog in need of a home, Nora hopes that the dog will be her friend, but he is more interested in following her brother around. 

The nearest neighbors have a little girl about Nora’s age, but Norah was shy and Susannah was shy, too, so they are not friends. 

“Nora and her father drove their wagon to town to shop for flour and sugar and dried fruits for pie. The townspeople were nice. But they weren’t Nora’s friends. Nora and Susannah waved to each other when Nora’s wagon passed Susannah’s house. But they weren’t friends, either.”

One day Nora’s father brings home some chicks and geese for eating. But Nora stubbornly asserts that they are “too beautiful to eat.” Her father decides that she needs “something all your own.”

Nora loves these little feathered friends and takes very good care of them. They become her best friends until one day one of them is missing. Don’t worry, the resolution is as sweet and happy as it could be. And, Nora finally has both feathered friends and the neighbor kind, too. 

I am using this as a Picture Book Preschool substitute for the unit on friendship.