When the Chickens Went on Strike

by Erica Silverman, Matthew Trueman (Illustrations)

Frustrated with being swung over the villagers’ heads as part of the Rosh Hashanah tradition to bring good luck, the chickens run away in protest and leave all the residents trying to figure out a way to bring them back, including one young boy who soon comes to understand the chickens’ perspective. Reprint.

Genres: Jewish, Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Holiday, Russia

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Kelly Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

When the Chickens Went on Strike
(children's book, fiction, animal story, Rosh Hashanah, Judaica, Orthodox, multicultural)

When the Chickens Went on Strike by Erica Silverman is a Rosh Hashanah story about the tradition of kapores/kaparot... the act of waving a live chicken over your head to erase your bad deeds... from the chickens' perspective. The chickens don't want any part of kapores anymore and plan to go on strike.

If you are a teacher, When the Chickens Went on Strike can be used for a variety of ELA and social studies topics... point of view/perspective, folktales, culture, religion, traditions, animal rights, worker rights/right to strike, etc.

Best for late elementary school and above. There is a lot to unpack from this story, so I suggest using When the Chickens Went on Strike as a read aloud with younger readers.

Kelly Wilson
Teacher and Children's Book Blogger
Kelly's Classroom Online
www.kellysclassroomonline.com

[Elisabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned something new. I had never heard of Kapores before. But if this book was my only reference, I would still be confused. The ritual isn't explained at all, which would be helpful in a children's book. I liked the story and its moral, but I'm not sure a gentile child would really get it. I also didn't feel like it had a satisfying ending. I wanted to see what happened for the boy without Kapores, but all we get is a few lines that everything was okay.

I _loved_ the illustrations. I thought, "very reminiscent of Renaissance paintings," and then I looked at the illustrator's bio and saw he grew up in northern Italy. So there you go.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite theme, Another Point of View. And a happy ending. "Customs come and customs go. All things change with time."

I love that the cover credits the original author, from which this adaptation was drawn. All too often there's not even a note to the source. This one also has a good author's note, too.

[Barbara Lovejoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book! The story is fun and the illustrations by one of my favorite illustrators, Matthew Trueman, are AMAZING. I would consider buying the book just for the illustrations. :)

[Amy Bodkin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great message about how traditions come and go but the things those traditions celebrate and honor don't.

[Danette · Rating 2 out of 5]

3/2/17 Read with Naomi

[J Scotland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Normally I don't review books here, but this one makes me ask a Question for Class Discussion. the narrator of th' book is Jewish, a distractable-but-good kid who's parents are disapointed in him cuz, let's face it, he's a kid and easily bored (he makes faces and falls off his chair during a worship service, for example). Tis th' time of Yom Kippur and he's feeling a lil' down about his ability to always be as good as he knows he's expected to be.

Now, the Jewish custom of Kapparot, or "kapores" in this book (I'm not Jewish nor a scholar of those sacred texts, so I can't say if there's a significant difference between the words/spelling) is upon them when the story tells us that a live chicken is swung over a persons head to essentially remove sin (the story is not a religious text at heart, so it's not explained in such terms). The chickens themselves are tired of this and go on strike by leaving the area and refusing to participate.

What the author does NOT speak about is that, from what I've read and researched, kapporot involves the transfer of sin from the person to the chicken, which is then ritually slaughtered. No chickens were harmed in the telling of this story. What's more is that the book begins and ends with the phrase "customs come and customs go..." which implies that the author doesn't believe in animal sacrifice, and seems to be hinting to the reader that this practice is outdated.

so, to me it's a bit of a confusing book-- I'm trying to find out what exactly was the author's subtext. If you're a non-Jew or Reform and don't practice kappores, and you've never heard of it you might get curious an' lookit upp and find out that there's an important part to this ritual that is left out of the telling. Why was that?? If the author's intent was to basically say "lets stop doing this" then why not tell all of it? (or if there's a reformist movement to NOT kill the chicken, then why not reflect that in the narrative as well?) Or is that crossing a line somehow-- the way PETA protestors will toss buckets of blood on people to protest the slaughter of animals for food?

[Nikki Chadwick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a fun and entertaining view on the importance of the Rosh Hashanah traditions and the importance of it to the Jewish community. In the Jewish New Year holiday, the people use chickens in the Kapoor ceremony as an atonement of their sins. They atone their sins by waving the chicken over their head 3 times while reciting a certain passage. In the story, the chickens go on strike because they do not want to be waved over the people’s heads. This story is interesting to children because it offers a different view than one would be used to seeing. It provides plenty of thought provoking questions about the world around them. It has a clear problem and solution: How do the people in the boy’s village get the chickens to end their strike? The children may not be able to pronounce the every word especially the words related to the Jewish culture; however, the style and language of the book over all is appropriate for children. The characters are realistic and convincing. The illustrations correspond to the text, are accurately placed regarding setting, plot, and characters. If this book were being read to students, the illustrations would hold the children’s’ interest, and enhance and add to the story. Multiple perspectives and values are present in this story. Negative stereotypes are not present in this story. The lives of the characters are genuine and complex, and their speech in the story is true to the culture and oral tradition of the Jewish community. The author comes from a Yiddish Jewish background, even though this story is placed in a Russian Jewish community. This is a fantasy book.

[Peacegal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not very many books stick up for animal protection, explain a potentially unfamiliar religious tradition, introduce the idea of a worker’s strike, and tell a good children’s fable. When the Chickens Went on Strike accomplishes them all.

The story takes place in a Russian village, in which the residents are preparing to celebrate the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah. Part of their custom is to wave a live chicken around their heads to erase the sins of the past year. (In the actual ritual, the chicken is then slaughtered, but this aspect is not mentioned in the book.) The chickens, of course, want no part of this. They choose to go on strike. The villagers, fearing no other way to practice their religious tradition, begin to panic. They try to reason with the angry chickens to no avail. By the end of the book, the villagers have learned that traditions can change and new ones can be formed.

Interestingly, the story parallels a real-life effort being made by organizations such as The Alliance to End Chickens as Kaporos.

I purchased this book for my library.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book about a Russian-Jewish boy and some chickens at Rosh Hashanah. Th boy who tells his story in this book tries hard to be good, but it's hard to always behave. One day the boy notices a gathering of chickens and listens in on their conversation, they are going to strike! They are sick of being Kapores. The boy is upset, how will he become good without kapores? The story ends when the boy realizes that goodness doesn't come from kapores at all, but from within himself.
This would be harder for younger kids, both because of the difficult multi-cultural material and the wordiness. The pictures are done by Matthew Trueman in his typical style (very similar to Lane Smith but not so wierd or strange). It's a clever book, it would be good to use in classrooms when talking about different cultures/religions and also in talking about traditions and how they start and how they stop. This book has the fictitious, but funny, idea that kapores stopped because the chickens went on strike. In a class I could have students think of traditions they have, or that people used to have, and write a fictitious story about how they began or stopped.

[Naomi Kenorak · Rating 2 out of 5]

The ancient Yom Kippur custom of Kapores (Kapparot) receives picture book treatment. The Russian-Jewish boy hero of the story wants to be good and make his papa proud, but he is easily distracted and clumsy. He discovers that the village chickens are running away to do away with the custom of kapores, where they are swung over people's heads in order to transfer away sins; though the book does not specifically say this, the chickens are then killed. The boy manages to save the chickens and over time the village custom changes, without the dire results that the villagers had feared. The point seems to be that there is a difference between religious duty and superstitious custom, though modern children may be left with a lot of questions as to why the chickens were running away and why people thought that kapores would work. While I'm generally a fan of stories with animal rights and labor themes, and multicultural tales, this book seemed too scattered to properly address any one subject.

[Jessica Rawden · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a lot of text in this book. The story and format reminded me of the Zelinsky books we looked at in class. The story is appropriate for younger kids, and features lots of pictures they could look at while you read. However, if a child is reading on his or her own, it is probably a better book for those ages 9-11. So, I guess the age span could be preschool through grade school. The story is great, about a village in Russia and a boy who is living there while a revolution is going on. It is also a story about the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah, and could be used as a teaching tool. Otherwise comparable to the Zelinsky books, the illustrations aren't as beautiful, but are still nice.

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here's a Rosh Hashanah tale that reminds me of Click clack moo, cows that type because the animals get fed up with the "abuse" they suffer at the hands of Jewish people celebrating Rosh Hashanah. They decide to strike! Reminds me so much of the cows demands that they make on Farmer Brown. I love how the author has taken the very old tale and turned it into something families can share together. What child won't delight in reading about a good kid (not unlike themselves) who overhears the chickens discussing their demands?

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun story that not only teaches about an unusual Jewish custom and about Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, but also has a moral tale about being a better person. The illustrations are fantastic - they have an old fashioned style, but still look fresh and alive. Our girls enjoyed this story and it's great to learn about different customs and religious ceremonies.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book for no other reason than the labor dispute being between the chickens and the people who swing chickens over the head as a way of cleansing their bad deeds. Way to enlighten us on the chicken's point of view in all this. A fun story for Rosh Hashanah.

[Naomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who wants respect? Chickens, that's who! A story for labor and animal rights education...

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

read to 5th SWAS, 6th, at Creekside
read to 5th at Highland

[Adina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leo couldn't get enough of this book even though I thought it left some questions unanswered. The illustrations are lovely.

[Payton Atwood]

This is about a boy who over hears that the chickens are planning on going on strike. This is a fun book to read to your students to talk about what a strike is! Can the village people get them to go off of strike? Read this book to find out!