Interrupting Chicken

Stein, David Ezra, Interrupting Chicken, Candlewick Press, 2010, 40 pgs.

Summary: Once upon a time there was a little red chicken who loved to have stories read to her at bedtime by her Papa. The only problem is little red chicken didn’t like how the stories were so she would interrupt with her own version of the tale. As Papa chicken reads each of the classic tales of Hansel and Gretel and Little Red Riding Hood, he gets interrupted with little red chicken’s version of how it really happened. Little red chicken isn’t tired at all even after Papa chicken read all the stories in the story book. Finally out of frustration and exhaustion Papa chicken suggests that little red chicken read him a story. Eagerly little red chicken begins the best story yet, but will Papa chicken interrupt the little red chicken?

Evaluation: I found this book to be a great illustrated view of how children see story time. I found this book to truly be for kids and I can see a lot of kids really enjoying it. As an adult, I was annoyed with the constant interruptions, which was the point of it the whole book. Fairy tale retelling can be tricky, but I think that Stein did a good job of taking classic stories and adding a very realistic twist for young readers to enjoy.

Annotation: What if you could rewrite the fairy tales? How would you have it end?

Significance of Book: I think this book is significant because it really displays how children listen to stories. This is this false notion that children sit quietly and listen, when really they are very active and engaged. This story shows that very well.

Genre/subject: fiction, storytelling, humorous

Awards:

National:

· ALA Notable Children's Books: 2011

· Caldecott Honor: 2011

State:

· Arizona: Grand Canyon Reader Award Nominees: 2012

· Colorado: Children's Book Award Nominees: 2012

· Georgia: Picture Storybook Nominees: 2012

· Illinois: Monarch Award Nominees: 2012

· Kentucky: Bluegrass Award Nominees: 2012

· Missouri: Building Block Picture Book Award Nominees: 2011

· New Hampshire: Ladybug Award Nominees: 2011

Why I selected the book: I chose this book because I enjoy “retellings” of fairy tales.

Price: $16.99