CHICKEN RUN: HATCHING THE MOVIE

If you can get past the relentlessly chirpy, promotional tone of the text and if you're tolerant of eggshell-thin poultry puns, this richly illustrated scrapbook about the making of DreamWorks' Chicken Run is bound to interest devotees of Aardman Animation's new clay-animated henhouse epic. The recounting of how the project came to be is rote enough (''It all begins with the story, and you 'read' the story on storyboards''). Many of the behind-the-scenes photos are dull or blurry. But the cumulative effect of so much detailed information, so earnestly presented, about the laborious process of turning lumps of plasticine into chickens with personality is one of affectionate respect. Plus, there's a sexy two-page centerfold of the villainous Mrs. Tweedy as Miss Chicken Pie 1955.