• Age: 4 to 8
• Grade: k to 3

For kids ages 4-8, a charming and hilarious tale about capybaras: the beloved animal sensation capturing children’s hearts! 

Hens and their chicks love their warm, snug home. Life is simple and comfortable in the chicken coop, where everyone knows their place and worries are far away. 

Until one day, when the capybaras appear. 

To the hens, the capybaras are too big, too wet, and too hairy. They don’t even follow the rules! But it’s hunting season, and the capybaras need somewhere safe to hide. Can the hens learn to get along with their unexpected guests? 

This delightful story shares the importance of opening our hearts to each other, no matter our differences, and the marvelous surprises that can happen along the way.

Alfredo Soderguit's profile page

ALFREDO SODERGUIT is an award-winning author and illustrator with more than forty books published throughout Latin America, Spain, France, and Italy. He also makes animated films with Palermo Estudio, a collective, which he founded with other illustrators and animators. His prize-winning animated film, Anina, is available on HBO and YouTube in English and Spanish.

“[A] gem… Soderguit’s beguiling picture book offers a direct-enough message: find community in embracing others—even those that seem unfamiliar at first…. Purely exquisite.”
—Kirkus Reviews, STARRED review

“A call to love and welcome each other, no matter our differences.”
—Booklist 

“Soderguit’s work makes adept use of illustration and design elements to convey meaning, truly honoring the picture book form. Featuring a cast of adorable, expressive animals, this is a simple but multilayered tale of overcoming prejudice, learning to question the status quo, and creating community.”
—Publishers Weekly, STARRED review

“The understated narration pairs brilliantly with the simple but expressive illustrations. Soderguit draws in shades of black on cream paper with accents of red to tell a gentle but subversive story of a community of animals coming together to survive.”
—Horn Book

“A beautiful, articulate, delicately illustrated tale of survival, acceptance and comradery. Alfredo Soderguit manages to simultaneously educate and entertain the reader in this special edition translated from the original Spanish. A powerful story that’s more relevant than ever”
—Barnes & Noble

A New York Public Library Best Book for Kids 2020 

“A heartwarming story of acceptance and friendship. The simple line drawings lend a sense of innocence to the story, and young readers will learn that caring for others is just as important as caring for themselves. Recommended.”
—School Library Connections

“The spare text of this title by Uruguyuan author/filmmaker Soderguit provides a quiet parable on the immigrant or refugee experience, avoiding overwrought browbeating, and the delicate art.”
—The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, STARRED review

“Young children will be delighted by the final double spread of this beautifully designed picture book with black-and-white drawings with touches of red and a gentle message about accepting others and community building.”
—International Literacy Association’s Children’s Literature Reading and Special Interest Group