Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?: A Hard-Boiled Mystery

A barnyard mystery takes on a noir-esque spin in this hilarious picture book chock full of puns, perfect for fans of 7 Ate 9 and Interrupting Chicken.

Inspector H. Poulet has a new case on her wings. The Chicken has apparently crossed the road, and no one knows why.

Can the Inspector get to the bottom of this tangled nest of questions? Squawking from one udderly unhelpful clue to the next, H. Poulet follows The Chicken's path across the farm. But the case seems totally scrambled! If the Inspector can't solve it soon, she'll have egg on her face.

In the end, the mystery resolves itself with a sunny-side-up twist: a surprise birthday party awaits H. Poulet on the other side of the road. The animals flock together for a barnyard bash, and the Inspector retains her eggcellent reputation--despite having missed all evidence of the party.

From the bestselling author of Where Do Diggers Sleep at Night?, this laugh-out-loud farm adventure has wacky, kid friendly illustrations by animator Mark Fearing. Readers young and old will love spotting the clues that H. Poulet overlooks and relish every cleverly crafted pun.

Author: Brianna Caplan Sayres
Publisher: Holiday House
Published: 09/16/2025
Pages: 32
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.93lbs
Size: 10.18h x 10.32w x 0.37d
ISBN: 9780823458271
Audience: Ages 4-8


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 07/01/2025
School Library Journal 08/01/2025 pg. 71
Publishers Weekly 08/04/2025

About the Author
Brianna Caplan Sayres is the best-selling author of the Where Do . . series. Her debut picture book, Where Do Diggers Sleep at Night?, has sold over a million copies to date and has appeared on the best seller lists at: Amazon, ABA Indiebound, USA Today and Walmart.com. Brianna lives in Seattle with her two book-loving boys.

Mark Fearing has never been bitten by a werewolf, a zombie, or a vampire. But he was bitten by the creative bug which is far more dangerous. Books he's illustrated include The Middle School Bites series, by Steven Banks, The Three Little Aliens and the Big Bad Robot, by Margaret McNamara, and Ben Franklin's in My Bathroom!, by Candace Fleming, as well as Giant Pants, which won the Oregon Spirit Book Award. He lives in Oregon with his family.