Chicken Scratch: Lessons on Living Creatively from a Flock of Hens

In this charming entry, journalist Byle (The Baker House Book Story) mines her family’s experiences raising a “smart, nosy” brood of chickens for wisdom on living a creative life. Soon after being persuaded by her son to take in one chicken (and then many), Byle began to glean bits of inspiration from the birds, which were constantly “explor[ing] and try[ing] new things,” even if that sometimes meant getting stuck underneath the kitchen sink. The birds were motivated by “an insatiable curiosity... about the world around them,” and likewise, Byle writes, one should harness a similar spirit to pursue new directions on one’s artistic path, even if it means abandoning the original plan. Those who care for chickens must also learn to “let go” as the birds die, and artists, too, would do well to release rigid self-expectations, perfectionism, and self-doubt. Byle intersperses chapters with process-oriented advice (on creating regularly, from the chicken’s POV: “My eggs aren’t always perfect. Sometimes they look weird.... I still lay them every day, because that’s part of being a chicken”), and though she can lay on the puns a bit heavily, the author’s perspective on creativity as a work in progress (that’s full of trial and error and false starts) resonates. Artists of all stripes will delight in this upbeat offering. (May)