Interrupting Chicken

Hilarious book about a chicken who interrupts his dad when he reads a story at bedtime. He knows all the stories by heart. Even though he's been warned, he's can't help himself by blurting out the entire story. Finally a frustrated Dad tells him to tell him a story and watch what happens. Ironically, the same thing happened to me last week when I sat for the grandkids. Love this little slice of art imitating life. Great illustrations. Entertaining for young and old and a nice little lesson about rudeness thrown in.

Interrupting Chicken is a fun book about a little chicken that interrupts his papa while they are reading familiar bedtime stories. Each time his papa starts to read a new story, the little chicken annoys him by interrupting loudly with a warning to the characters in the book...he just can't STOP! I read this every year to my second grade class, and every year they LOVE it! Here are the reasons why my class loved it: 1) It is so funny, it made them want to read it over and over. 2) It is a good book to teach an important lesson about interrupting. 3) It is short and sweet so you can finish it quickly. 4) Finally, it is fun to read it aloud, because you can use different voices and expression to make it interesting! We hope you enjoy this book!

I literally LAUGHED OUT LOUD when I got this book in the mail and read it by myself. I was excited to read it to my almost 3-year old. He enjoys reading it but he doesn't understand that the chicken is interrupting. He gets upset that each story says "The End" because he isn't ready to have me be finished yet. I'm glad I bought this and hope my kids can grow into it, but there are better stories in our house.

What an incredibly fun book. I love reading to my son and I like to change my voice for different characters to make it fun. As he has gotten a little older ... he now does the interrupting and I fall asleep!

The "Interrupting Chicken" brings delight with each reading. My four year old granddaughter is my reading partner and she requests this book each time. The wit and humor entwined with the colorful language and pictures makes it a fun read for us.

My Kindergarten class really liked this story. I used it the first day of school to make my student's understand they can not interrupt me while teaching or reading. It seems to have worked after just 7 days of school.

I literally LAUGHED OUT LOUD when I got this book in the mail and read it by myself. I was excited to read it to my almost 3-year old. He enjoys reading it but he doesn't understand that the chicken is interrupting. He gets upset that each story says "The End" because he isn't ready to have me be finished yet. I'm glad I bought this and hope my kids can grow into it, but there are better stories in our house.

What an incredibly fun book. I love reading to my son and I like to change my voice for different characters to make it fun. As he has gotten a little older ... he now does the interrupting and I fall asleep!

The "Interrupting Chicken" brings delight with each reading. My four year old granddaughter is my reading partner and she requests this book each time. The wit and humor entwined with the colorful language and pictures makes it a fun read for us.

My Kindergarten class really liked this story. I used it the first day of school to make my student's understand they can not interrupt me while teaching or reading. It seems to have worked after just 7 days of school.

Interrupting Chicken is the cutest story. It is about The Little Read Chicken who cannot help but interrupt Papa when he reads a bedtime story each night. As Papa reads, the little chicken knows the characters, whether Hansel and Gretel or Little Red Riding Hood, are about to get into trouble, so she shouts out and interrupts the story never allowing Papa to finish. Little Red Chicken gets so excited keeping the story characters out of trouble, that she still isn't asleep. It's frustrating for Papa, so Little Red Chicken offers to read him a story instead, and before long she puts him to sleep.

This is the perfect story to teach little ones manners and the concept that it is rude to interrupt. David Ezra Stein is both the author and the illustrator. The colors are fabulous and the illustrations are whimsical. It's a cute story for parent and child. Ages 4-8; RECOMMENDED - 5/5 stars

My niece is struggling with "blurting" / interupting in school. I really wanted a book to show her how these actions affect others, but without lecturing her. Though this is a somewhat cute book, my kids and I did not find it highly exciting, or particularly funny. I did not feel it was what I was looking for at all after receiving it. Other than showing "Papa's" slight frustration with the interupting, it teaches nothing at all in the way of alternative behaviors that can be used in place of blurting and interupting. The best part of the book is the little pieces of fables that are included, but personally I think I would rather just read the fables and skip this book.

Everyone knows that interrupting someone else is rude, but not everyone is good at stopping this habit once it is formed.

This story had a fantastic sense of humor. I couldn’t help but to laugh every single time the little red chicken interrupted one of the fairy tales her father was reading to her in order to warn the characters about what would happen to them next. She felt she had good reasons for the choices she made, but she also struggled to understand why her father didn’t appreciate her antics.

The ending felt abrupt to me. While I appreciated the fact that Mr. Stein took such a creative approach to how this evening ended for his characters, I would have preferred to see them spend some more time finding a resolution for the problem they were facing. This is something I’d want to discuss with a preschooler after reading it to make sure they understood how it ended and why it ended that way.

The message of this tale was clear, but it was never heavy-handed. I respected the fact that the author trusted his audience to understand what he was trying to say. This was even more important to me than the narrator’s ability to find the funny side in what can be a very annoying habit. Including such a lighthearted approach to the author’s message meant that I’d be happy to read this over and over again.

Interrupting Chicken should be read by anyone who has ever felt the irresistible urge to speak up before someone else is finished talking.

originally posted at long and short reviews

We checked this book out from the library in hopes that all three of my kids would enjoy it. We read this story at bedtime. This book did not disappoint me or my three kids. Even the kids dad was listening to the story. My kids giggled at each of little chicken's disrupt of the story. My husband and I chuckled because we are always interrupted at bedtime story time. It is such a cute story and I can't wait to read it to my three kids again knowing that they will giggle every time. The illustrations are amazing in this book and really bring the characters alive. We totally recommend this book as a family.

I am a school-based speech therapist working with K-5 and I run several groups to work on social skills.
I discovered the book "Interrupting Chicken" at our school's book fair and was immediately drawn in by the title and cover image, since it features talk bubbles. I had just introduced thinking and talking bubbles with my social skills group and we had also been working on not blurting out and interrupting. This book is relevant for both of these skill areas, and was perfect for my setting!

The story deals with a young chicken who begs his father for a bed time story. Papa Chicken warns him not to interrupt the story, and the little red chicken promises. Of course it doesn't take long for the little red chicken to break his promise, and he blurts out a possible ending for the story. The author lovingly illustrated this by adding in talking bubbles that look a little bit chaotic. Papa Chicken attempts to read three stories, but gets interrupted each time, at which point he has had enough and tells the little red chicken to create his own story. Little red chicken does so, only to get interrupted by Papa Chicken's snoring.

The students I read this book with (1st through 4th grade) thought this story was hilarious and got a few good laughs in every time the little red chicken interrupted the story with his goofy antics. We discussed how little chicken's interrupting affected the story and how it made Papa Chicken feel. We also talked about how to interrupt appropriately (something we had been working on throughout the year).

Of course this book would be enjoyed by younger children as well - it is a funny story and teaches a good concept.

Papa chicken pulled the jammie top over little red chicken's head and picked her up to take him to her bed. The dark sky could be seen through between the cracks of the curtains as a breeze ruffled them. Little chicken's bed was ready and waiting and her teddy was already tucked in, but there was something amiss. Little chicken announced to her Papa that there was something missing and when asked what it was she boldly announced, "A bedtime story!" There were lots of books piled up near the bed, but Papa agreed and firmly announced, "I'll read one of your favorites. And of course you are not going to `interrupt' the story tonight are you?" Oh, no ... little red chicken was really going to be a good girl!

Papa began to read the story of "Hansel and Gretel" and just when the old woman invited them in, the little red chicken began to shout her warning to the children and said, "So Hansel and Gretel didn't. THE END." It may have been true, but Papa was not very happy with little red chicken and scolded her. Oh, yes, she was going to be a very good girl. Maybe. Papa began to read about "Little Red Riding Hood." "Out jumped a little red chicken, and she said, `DON'T TALK TO STRANGERS!'" Papa was not very happy with two interruptions and scolded little red chicken again. Was Papa ever going to get through a book without interruption? Was little red chicken going to be a good girl and listen?

This marvelously zany story of the little red chicken that interrupted her Papa's stories will tickle your funny bone. Of course this story does have a light realistic cast to it as many little ones, as we all know, sometimes enjoy interrupting a story to shout out the ending. The little red chicken has the "I know, I know" syndrome and loves to tell her Papa the end of the story. This story has a delightfully humorous twist at the end that would make even the most diehard curmudgeon smile. The artwork has a lovely nostalgic aura when Papa is reading from a fairy tale and a scintillatingly silly cast to it when we see him reading to his little chicken. "Interrupting Chicken" is a Caldecott Honor Book, a definite tale for those who enjoy a little humor in their bedtime stories!

In INTERRUPTING CHICKEN, it's time for Little Red Chicken's bedtime and he wants his Papa to read him a story. So, Papa takes a book and begins reading it, but before the story has even begun, Little Red Chicken interrupts the story and keeps the protagonists from going into danger. She warns Hansel and Gretel that the old woman in the candy house is a witch, she warns Little Red Riding Hood that she shouldn't talk to strangers, and she shows Chicken Little that an acorn had fallen and not the sky. By this point, Papa is very tired and Little Red Chicken suggests she read Papa a story. So, he crawls into bed and Little Red Chicken begins reading a story she wrote herself. Papa falls asleep and then Little Red Chicken soon joins him.

INTERRUPTING CHICKEN is a cute and heartwarming book that parents and children will probably enjoy reading together. It's also a good book to read to kids at a day care before their afternoon nap. It's not necessary that children be familiar with the three fairy tales in the story, but it is helpful because it provides context and might cut down on the questions asked. If children aren't familiar with those stories, they are worth looking into for the next story time.

My first grade class loves this read aloud book more than any other book I have read. My students did not need to know the fables first in order to enjoy it. While I do agree that this book doesn't really teach a lesson about interrupting, I do not agree that this is the purpose of the book. The purpose of the book is to ENTERTAIN. I want my students to be excited by what is in books. I want them to desire to open books and read stories. THAT is how tye become better readers. I am all about voices while I read books. I have a deep stern voice for Papa and a high voice for Chicken. As I reread the story, my students love to join in during the parts that are repeated - so it allows for student participation. I highly recommend this book to any teacher who loves to be animated and do voices while reading books.

Laugh out loud fun! Papa Chicken attempts to read his little red chicken a bedtime story but the young chicken just cannot help herself and interrupts after the first page of each one: Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood and Chicken Little? Why? She doesn't want the bad things to happen to them!

Papa is tired after all this so suggests that the little red chicken read him a story! What happens? GREAT ENDING!

This book is best enjoyed a read aloud especially if you can change your voice a little for when the little red chicken interrupts. The reading of this story brings chuckles every time we read it from our kids.

As an elementary school counselor, I am so excited about this book! I was cruising through the bookstore not even planning on going in the children's section, but of course I could not help myself. And boy am I glad I cruised over there! Interrupting Chicken is my new social skills go to for listening, waiting your turn to talk, and learning to raise your hand. It's really difficult to find GOOD books teaching kids to be socially alert of their impulsive need to interrupt. This one is going to be a BLAST to read to kids. There are always going to be students who blurt out their words or decide to have a conversation while you're talking. Most kids interrupt because they haven't had proper guidance on how to be social thinkers. Interrupting Chicken will help students be better listeners and figure out when it's the appropriate time to use their words. It is an obvious addition to my toolbox. Plus it's cute, adorable, and funny.

Book: Interrupting Chicken
Author:David Stein

Summery: The book is about a chicken who is getting ready for bed. Chicken wants her dad to read her a story. Chicken's dad starts to read her one of her favorite stories. Chicken keeps interrupting the story before he finishes. Her dad Keeps telling her to not interrupt and she keeps doing it. She promises she would not interrupt again but she did several times. The next story she keeps on doing it. At the end she reads Papa a story and he falls asleep. I did not learn anything from the story. I liked it because it was funny. I think the book is ok and that other people will like it too.

Abby Clark....Age 7.

Interrupting Chicken written and illustrated by David Ezra Stein tells the story of a little red chicken settling down for a bedtime story read to her by her papa. The story begins with a warning from Papa not to interrupt as he reads, but the little chicken cannot help herself! She is so enraptured with the tales of Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, and Chicken Little that she cannot help but leap into the stories and warn the characters of the danger they are in or keep them from getting upset over something silly. The little red chicken proclaims, “I couldn’t let that little chicken get all upset over an acorn!” The chicken’s impulsive, however endearing, interruptions begin to tire her Papa while the chicken herself is very worked up and not tired in the least. But now it is chicken’s turn to tell Papa a bedtime story. Will Chicken be able to pull off this task without any interruptions? Interrupting Chicken is a darling and hilarious all-too-familiar tale about a little red chicken and her papa’s bedtime ritual that will be sure to have both children and adults laughing out loud. I would highly recommend this book to children ages 3+.

The plot follows a repetitive and steady beginning, middle, and end pattern and one can begin to perceive the lessons to be learned and the key take-aways from the get-go. This is a great book for teaching social skills for children who need reminders to listen, wait their turn to speak, raise their hands, and control their impulsive need to interrupt and be heard. Interrupting Chicken can be a tool that teachers or parents alike can use to teach their children to be better listeners and understand when it is an appropriate time for them to participate in a discussion. The book begins stating that it is now time for the little red chicken’s bedtime. While Papa warns chicken not to interrupt, chicken replies, “Oh no, Papa. I’ll be good.” The middle of the plot follows chicken and Papa through story-within-a-story narratives of familiar fairy tales while chicken continues to interrupt and spoil the stories. The book ends with chicken reading her own story to Papa who then falls sound asleep. The last page shows the two characters snuggled up in bed together sound asleep.

David Ezra Stein’s Interrupting Chicken was awarded the 2011 Caldecott Honorable Mention and is a New York Times Bestseller. In 2008, Stein was awarded the New Writer Award for Leaves by The New York Public Library and the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation. Stein published his first book in 2006, Cowboy Ned and Andy, and has since published ten children’s books. Interrupting Chicken received notoriety with the designation of the Caldecott honor award for the illustrations. Stein uses a unique collection of media to make his vibrant images with warm colors pop of the page. The mixed media for the illustrations includes watercolor, water-soluble crayon, china marker, pen, and opaque white ink. The illustrations perfectly capture the setting of the chicken’s bedroom at night, highlighting the green, yellow, orange, striped wall paper with pink flowers that spans the book on nearly ever page including the book jacket and end pages. During the segments of the book when other stories come into play (when Papa reads Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, and Chicken Little) Stein uses an obviously different illustration style compared to the rest of the book. This contrasts adds continuity as well as a authenticity to the familiar German fairy tales read by Papa. Stein uses color to express the character’s mood and emotions. The warm and vibrant colors, contrast with the setting taking place at bedtime, however, this in clearly intended to suggest that the little red chicken is wide awake and full of life.

Getting ready for bed, Little Red Chicken asks for a bedtime story. Papa says he will read if she will not interrupt the story. Unfortunately Little Red can't seem to control herself and interrupts through each story to Papa's frustration. From the illustrations to the storyline the students are captivated with this story. I read it to my 3rd grade class and they laughed and giggled through it. They could even predict what would probably happen. Fun way to talk about something serious. Interrupting and finishing people's sentences. This story is so perfect for teachers to read to their class. We all have one of these little chickens in our classroom that interrupt during instructions or lesson presentations with things what are not true or way off track. One of my top picks this school year.

This book is true to fashion, the little guy wants a bedtime story, gets one… interrupts, gets another… interrupts and it ends with dad asleep before his son! How many nights have your little ones out-storied you? My kids loved this book and Landen enjoyed telling the joke in his review... see it here 3AmigosBookBlog.com.

The publisher should preface the book with a warning to not read at bedtime! We laughed so much that we were energized. It took 3 more books before the boys settles back down. Which took longer than it normally would have because they kept interrupting me. A year later, they still remember it well and with laughter.

Last night, the 6-year-old brought in a small stuffed animal and said, "Grandma, does this look like the bird from 'Interrupting Chicken?'"

"Yes! It - - - "

"Bacaw!"