4 Stars
Verdict: It's a harsh life for a hen.
This is a Korean folk tale of a hen who, unlike the title suggests, dreams of being able to keep the egg she lays and raise it as her own. She dreams of freedom. When she is culled with the other old hens, she turns her hardship into an opportunity to seek her dreams.
Sprout goes through some rough stuff, let me tell you. Unable to produce any more eggs, Sprout begins her journey by being tossed in a grave and buried by a load of other dead. Immediately after, she's hunted by a weasel who enjoys killing any survivors of the culling.
Chilling stuff. If you think about this in terms of people, this is a horrifying book. And her poor life doesn't get easier from there.
For the whole story, Sprout has to fight to survive. She puts up with specism, the murderous weasel, and the harsh reality of her eggless body to make her dreams come true.
Again, I needed a short book to pass my reading challenge, and this was an interesting find. If you're looking for something short and different, with fable-like qualities, then it's definitely worth a try.
Source: Bought it to complete my 2017 reading challenge.
