Hanna Johansen Quotes

“Even when her three thousand, three hundred thirty-three fellow inmates in the old hen house laugh at her ambitions, Henrietta holds fast, practicing day and night.

“And while she’s honing her talents, she’s also getting ready to move on to the bigger, brighter world she can see through the tiny hole in the hen house wall.”

“However, one young chicken has her sights set on a different kind of life. Little Henrietta announces that she is going to learn to sing and lay golden eggs.”

“It is a must-have for children who are fascinated by dinosaurs and for parents who want to introduce them to chapter books. It’s imaginative, witty and holds their attention.”

“Who was it then? I looked under the table. I lay down flat on my stomach in order to check whether someone was hiding under the sofa saying ‘Omps.’ Of course, no one was there. Everyone knows that there’s never anyone under the sofa.”

“The truth has to come out sometime. My suspicion was right. What had worked its way out of my Easter egg there on my window still was not a bird. It wasn’t a lizard and it wasn’t a snake.”

“Until now I had only see his top half. But there was no doubt about it. I hadn’t read all those books about dinosaurs for nothing. He had no spikes, no horns, no crest, no large armor plates, he had only wrinkles. ”

“Henrietta knows her limitations, but doesn’t let them destroy her ambitions, any more than she lets the hen house walls keep her a prisoner.”

“Henrietta herself is a spunky, likeable young bird. The pen and ink line drawings by illustrator Kathi Bhend are divine and she brings the words to life in a very appealing way.”

“Life becomes very complicated for a boy named Zawinul when one of his Easter eggs hatches an inquisitive, far-from-extinct Compsognathus.”

“That can’t be, I though. Easter eggs don’t crackle, and Easter eggs don’t speak. Easter eggs are stone-dead, because they’re boiled. Perhaps the egg wasn’t boiled after all? For a couple of weeks, it had been lying in the hot April sun that shone through the window.”

“And she’s not above causing a little havoc along the way ― once the other three thousand, three hundred thirty-three chickens find her escape route, chaos reigns in the barnyard, by the pond, and among the wheat fields.”

“Whether Henrietta achieves her dreams is left open, but through her persistence and her resolute belief in herself, she does manage to change the lives of everyone in the hen house for the better.”

“She lays a brown egg and the other chickens say ‘look that egg isn’t golden after all’ and Henrietta says ‘did you really believe a chicken could lay golden.”

“This story is about a royal pain, dog-sized Compsognathus who sleeps in the room of his young owner, Zawinul. The boy tries to tame the dinosaur by putting him on a leash and, ultimately, unloading him.”

“My name is Zawinul now. I inherited the name, but not from my parents. I inherited it from a friend, because Zawinul is a name that has to be passed on. He put up with the name for a couple of years.”

“I had had too much to eat for lunch and the food didn’t agree with me. But is that a reason to doubt my common sense? Maybe. I counted what was left of my Easter eggs: one, two, three. Very good I was satisfied with myself, because if I could count to three, I hadn’t lost my common sense.”

“Henrietta has big dreams for a little chicken: learning to sing, to swim, to fly, and, most important of all, to lay golden eggs.”

“Our heroine is no fool; she knows her limitations, but doesn’t let them destroy her ambitions, any more than she lets the hen house walls keep her a prisoner.”

“How different everything was outside the chicken house! There was fresh air everywhere and it didn’t smell of chicken droppings or fortified chicken feed anywhere. When Henrietta had gotten accustomed to the brightness, she saw that things outside were not only green but blue as well.”

“Whether Henrietta achieves her dreams is debatable, but through her persistence and her resolute belief in herself, she does manage to change the lives of everyone in the hen house for the better.”

“Together, words and pictures reveal how respect for others can be the first step toward true friendship and real understanding. And, as any good fable should, it does it all without preaching its moral or losing its sense of humor.”

“In this fable, a cantankerous duck and a grumpy owl square off over the right way to eat, the right time to sleep, and the right place to perch.”

“Neither think the other is right about anything, and each clearly has a blind spot about the other’s way of life.”

“The story is told almost entirely through dialogue, giving lively energy to the petty bickering and narrow-mindedness that stand in the way of a woodland friendship.”

“Once upon a time there was a birch rising in the middle of a meadow. Even at the edge of the meadow shimmered a pool where a duck swam in a circle, dipping its beak from time to time.”

“Uhm,′ muttered a voice up in the birch. – Are you a real owl? Asks the duck. – Uhm. ‘Come down here,’ the duck shouted.”

“Uhm,′ muttered the owl yawning. And fluttered to the floor. – Oh! Said the duck. ‘I never thought an owl had such beautiful wings.’ ‘Uhm,’ said the owl, glad the duck found its wings beautiful.”

“– You’re not good of the head! Said the duck. – The food does not pass. You have to swim, dive and search until you find it. – What a crazy way to eat! Muttered the owl. The duck got angry. – It’s not crazy, it’s normal! He said furiously.”

“The duck climbed to the ground, shook itself, and looked at the top of the tree. After looking for some time, he shouted: ‘– Hey, you up there!”

“I don’t understand what you mean,′ said the owl. – I always sleep during the day. ‘That’s weird,’ said the duck. – At night you sleep. – Sleep at night, you say? No way! The night is too exciting to be spent sleeping. It’s when it’s dark, it’s when your eyes get wide, and you expect something to eat.”

“– Why are you always saying Uhm? Can’t you say anything more? ‘Of course I do,’ said the owl, ‘but I don’t feel like it.’ I was sleeping. – Oh my God! Exclaimed the duck. – How can you sleep in broad daylight? Nobody can!”