Don't Count Your Chicks

by Ingri d'Aulaire, Edgar Parin d'Aulaire

In this colorful adaptation of a Scandinavian folktale, an old woman learns not to count her chickens before they hatch

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1943

About the author

Ingri d'Aulaire (1904-1980) was an American children's artist and illustrator, who worked in collaboration with her husband and fellow artist, Edgar Parin d'Aulaire. Born Ingri Mortenson in Kongsburg, Norway, she studied art in Norway, Germany and France, and met Edgar Parin d'Aulaire when she was a student in Munich. They married in 1925, and immigrated to the USA shortly thereafter, settling in Brooklyn in 1929. After pursuing separate careers initially, the couple turned to illustrating children's books together, releasing their first collaborative effort, The Magic Rug, in 1931. They settled in Wilton, Connecticut in 1941, and lived there until their deaths in the 1980s. Awarded the 1940 Caldecott Medal for their picture-book biography of Abraham Lincoln, the d'Aulaires published other children's biographies, as well as some notable works on Greek and Norse mythology. (source: Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

A note at the beginning says that this story was taken from a Hans Christian Andersen poem. It's a nice parable about wishing for a good life instead of living the one you have. The pictures are nice, I would have though colored pencil but apparently they are all lithographs. The note about that helpfully pointed out that that means they were created directly on stone. "Litho" being rock and "graph" being writing you would think yours truly would have put that together sooner. I always thought of it as etching but I never thought of it as being stone. Many of the illustrations are in color, but whether they are hand colored or are multiple layers like a silkscreen, I do not know. I think all kid's books should have a description of the media that the artist uses and a little bit about the process or inspiration. The back-story is always interesting to me.

[Cindi · Rating 4 out of 5]

The page before the title page says "Don't Count Your Chickens Before They Are Hatched" is a good old American proverb. But it doesn't have a story to go with it. In the Scandinavian countries they have the story, but not the proverb. They say, "Remember the Woman with the Eggs", for every child knows this folk tale and knows by heart the poem that Hans Christian Andersen wrote around it."

I don't know what it is about the D'Aulaire's art that I love so much. But, I love it and that's a fact. Besides that, this is a great story to go with a great proverb. Haven't we all counted our chicks?

[Haley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great adaptation of the story behind the phrase.

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read that there is a reissue of this title in 2023, however I received a well worn soft pages of paper copyrighted in 1943 with an old book smell. It was delightful to behold and read this title. Of course I had previously read a number of titles written and illustrated by the husband and wife team of Ingri and Edgar d’Aulaire. To my great surprise there was more ch color in the illustrations, actually lots of color for the times and as in d’Aulaireillustrationnstyle lots of detailed illustrations. A reissue you say in 2023 will it be relevant? Absolutely as it teaches two maxims that every child should know without that “teach tone” many picture books use now . The two maxims are don’t count your chickens till they hatch and don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Can’t wait to see a copy of the reissue.

[Awjtf · Rating 5 out of 5]

very cute book!