OK, while we are on the subject of chickens and literacy, INTERRUPTING CHICKEN is another really fun new book Laura and I found last week at Tattered Cover. A little red chicken wants her father to read her a bedtime story. He is a little reluctant, claiming that she always interrupts. Little Red Chicken promises that she won't interrupt this time and off they go.
First, Father reads Hansel and Gretel. When he gets to the part where Hansel and Gretel are about to get themselves into deep trouble, Little Red Chicken can't help herself, and she interrupts. Next, Father Chicken reads Little Red Riding Hood. Again, Little Red Chicken feels the need to warn the main character about a dangerous situation. Father moves onto Chicken Little. And once again…well, you know what's going to happen. Tired and exasperated, Father tells Little Red Chicken she should write her own book. By the time she's done, Father is fast asleep.
Besides simply being a story that kids are going to love, I could see using this book in lots of different ways. I might use it to introduce what I call the "Rule of Three," how writers have things happen three times. It would be a great book to talk about what it means to be an active reader. Little Red Chicken is constantly thinking about the stories and carrying on a dialogue with the characters. And it would be a perfect book for those early weeks of school, when you are working on getting writing workshop up and running (I'd put it in a string with BUNNYCAKES and PATCHES LOST AND FOUND).
Our students come back to school today. I can't wait to share this book with a group of primary kids.
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