Interrupting Chicken

A little red chicken is all set for bed, and her papa has a story ready. He has one request: please don't interrupt. It is a hard promise for a chicken to keep, especially when the story in question is about someone in trouble.

As Papa reads Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood and Chicken Little in turn, she cannot sit still while the characters walk into danger. She bursts in to warn them, rescue them and generally rearrange the plots, and each tale falls apart a little more than the last.

Then the roles flip. Now the chicken gets to tell the bedtime story, and Papa, worn out and yawning, has to sit through it. Whether he can stay awake and quiet until the last page is the cheeky question that closes the book.

David Ezra Stein's picture book is a lively read-aloud that doubles as a gentle joke on the way small children treat story time. It is also a good fit for anyone who loves familiar fairy tales told with a twist.