Stein, D. E. (2010). Interrupting
chicken. Somerville, Mass.: Candlewick Press.
Reading level: AD300L
Interest level: Grades PreK - 2
This Stein offering is wildly different from the roughly
drawn and incredibly basic “No, David!” Little chicken, all tucked into bed, is
ready for his bedtime story, and he promises not to interrupt this time. Just
two pages into story-within-a-story (meta!) “Hansel and Gretel,” however,
little chicken jumps into the page, delivering a warning about the witch to the
siblings, which they heed, promptly ending the story. This occurs with the next
two stories, and then papa chicken has no more tales to tell. Little chicken
offers to put papa to bed with his
own story, an adorably crayon drawn “Bedtime for PAPA.” Papa, predictably,
interrupts it with a massive snore.
I’m not sure what the point is to this one. Books are
stupid, unless they are boring? It’s more fun to tell a story than to read one?
Honestly, I wouldn’t use this in the classroom. It’s more of a bedtime book,
and not a great one. But, I guess it could be used as a read aloud, since it’s
subversive and kids like subversive. As part of a lesson, maybe you could use
it as a model to prompt students to write their own endings to famous fairy
tales.
