Chicken Boy Audiobook By Arthur Parkinson cover art

Chicken Boy

My Life with Hens

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Chicken Boy

By: Arthur Parkinson
Narrated by: Arthur Parkinson
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Brought to you by Penguin.

A captivating testament to the mutual rewards and delights of keeping chickens, by the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Flower Yard

Most of us want a dog, or a cat, or a pony when we are young – but for Arthur Parkinson, it was always hens. Growing up in an ex-mining town in Nottinghamshire, the other kids in the playground called him 'Chicken Boy'. The quiet fulfilment of keeping hens became his sanctuary, a tonic for mental and physical health, a connection with his family and the natural world. Illustrated with Arthur's own characterful watercolours and photographs of his ‘girls’, Chicken Boy is a one-of-a-kind memoir of a life in nature.

©2023 Arthur Parkinson (P)2023 Penguin Audio

 Pets & Animal Care Biographies & Memoirs Gardening & Horticulture Animals Outdoors & Nature Sustainable & Green Living Witty Biological Sciences Science

Critic reviews

Poetic... Parkinson writes with great lyricism... His knowledgeable enthusiasm is infectious (Bee Wilson)
A joy from the very first page. Arthur's beautiful, lively and accurate drawings of these enchanting feathery people are irresistible, and I just love the way he writes. I am now jealous of fox-free areas where chickens may be kept. The photographs are award-winning: the whole thing is bliss (Joanna Lumley)
This hugely informative, joyful and amusing book has me desperately wondering and hoping that I could, after all, find space in my small garden for a few chickens. Maybe the rhubarb will have to go (John Wright, author of THE FORAGER'S CALENDAR)
All stars
Most relevant
I have kept garden hens in inner-city Dallas, Texas for more than 30 years, but I still learned tips from Arthur about tending them. I wrote about them in a local gardening column until I retired, and readers laughed at their antics and mourned my losses with me. Like Arthur, I am tenderhearted. I cry easily at the sight of a needy animal, but I did not expect to cry at hearing how Arthur tended to his grandmother in her last days. I listened to the book while I worked hard at autumn chores in the garden, and Arthur’s interesting chapters and soothing voice lightened the load for this worn-out, arthritic body.

Did not expect to cry.

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