– A New York Times Bestseller –
Description
It’s time for the little red chicken’s bedtime story — and a reminder from Papa to try not to interrupt. But the chicken can’t help herself! Whether the tale is Hansel and Gretel or Little Red Riding Hood or even Chicken Little, she jumps into the story to save its hapless characters. Now it’s the little red chicken’s turn to tell a story, but will her yawning papa make it to the end without his own kind of interrupting? The charming 2011 Caldecott Honor Book is available in paperback for the first time.
Details
- Author/Illustrator: David Ezra Stein
- Publisher: Candlewick (August 2010)
- Hardcover: 40 pages
- Approx. Word Count: 493
My Thoughts
At bedtime, the little red chicken promises that she won’t interrupt Papa’s story. Yet with each story, the desire to cut in and finish it with a better ending is just too tempting. As Hansel And Gretel is being told, little chicken interrupts,
Out jumped a little red chicken and she said, ‘DON’T GO IN! SHE’S A WITCH.’ So Hansel and Gretel didn’t. THE END!
And so it goes with the telling of Little Red Riding Hood and Chicken Little. Little red chicken can’t resist her need to save the characters from any ill, by having a chicken (of course herself) jump into the story and tie it all up nicely at the ending.
Having run out of stories, unhappy with the constant interruptions, plus the fact that little chicken isn’t getting sleepy, Papa has a new idea. He hops in bed and asks little chicken to tell him a story.
And Bedtime for Papa by Chicken begins:
Once there was a little red chicken who put her Papa to bed. She read him a hundred stories.
Papa chicken is sound asleep almost immediately. And in his own fun way, Papa manages to interrupt little chicken’s bedtime story.
What Concerned Me
Some might be concerned that little red chicken’s creativity, by changing the endings of the stories, wasn’t encouraged. However, I felt that it was bedtime and Papa was ready for the evening to wind down. It didn’t really bother me.
What I Liked Most
This is a cute twist on getting tucked in and reading a bedtime story.
Also, the differences in illustrations from Papa telling the story to little red chicken adds an interesting touch.
Teaching Aids
About The Author/Illustrator
Stein has received several awards and recognitions. He received a Caldecott Honor for Interrupting Chicken and the Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award for Leaves, which was also a Publishers Weekly Best Book, a Kirkus Reviews Editor s Choice and a School Library Journal Best Book.
Some of his art for this book was created with a four-and-a-half-year-old on his lap and a baby wandering the studio floor and gnawing on art supplies.
He lives in New York.
