Chicken Run

Ellen Weiss's junior novelization follows the DreamWorks/Aardman film faithfully: Ginger the chicken plots escape from Tweedy's Farm before the egg operation becomes a pie factory, Rocky the Rhode Island Red arrives claiming he can fly, and the whole flock hatches a plan involving a homemade flying machine. At 144 pages with a color photo insert, it is sized right for middle-grade readers who loved the movie and want more time with these characters. The themes — courage, teamwork, perseverance, friendship — are wholesome and universal. The honest caveat is that this is a tie-in novelization, which means limited original literary value; it retells the film rather than deepening it. If your child enjoyed Chicken Run, this is a comfortable next read. If they haven't seen the film, start there first.