Awarded a 2011 Caldecott Honor! A favorite joke inspires this charming tale, in which a little chicken’s habit of interrupting bedtime stories is gleefully turned on its head. (Ages 4-8)
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 from doing some dangerous or silly thing. 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? Energetically illustrated with glowing colors —and offering humorous story-within-a-story views —this all-too-familiar tale is sure to amuse (and hold the attention of ) spirited little chicks.
Review
The delivery is Catskill perfect; readers will fall hard for the antics of this hapless pair. —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
This is one of the rare titles that will entertain both parent and child. —School Library Journal
Stein uses page turns dramatically to build tension, which is released each time the chicken interrupts and amends a fairy tale…illustrations are vivid and dramatic. Great fun for reading aloud. —Booklist
About the Author
David Ezra Stein is an author-illustrator whose previous books include LEAVES, winner of an Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award. He lives in Kew Gardens, New York.
