Interrupting Chicken

Photo credit Penguin Random House

“This book is called Interrupting Chicken, right Papa? Yes. Now please don’t interrupt the story!” Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein is such a fun book that every bedtime story reader can relate to. Little Red Chicken just can’t resist jumping into the stories to save her favorite characters!

Stein’s illustrations depict the action and interruptions of Little Red Chicken jumping right out of the fairy tales that his Papa is reading. This moves the plot along and adds humor to the story. It creates the true sense of the interruptions within each story. The illustrations also depict the character’s point of view. The smooth illustrations show how the father is reading the story and how he wants to get Little Red Chicken to go to bed and relax, yet the excited Crayola illustrations show Little Red Chicken’s excitement and how he feels about the stories he is hearing.

The texture of the illustrations go back and forth between the rough childlike Crayola drawings and the more smooth, detailed illustrations to create the story. The texture of the illustrations helps create the mood of the story where the smooth illustrations are the calm bedtime story that Papa is telling Little Red Chicken. On the other hand, the rough childlike Crayola illustrations show excitement every time Little Red Chicken interrupts.  

The illustrations also reinforce the text within the storyline, as the reader can visualize the story right along with reading it. The two different types of illustrations also reinforce which character is telling the story or speaking in the story as the Little Red Chicken interrupts the story we see him jumping out of the fairy tale picture book that his Papa is reading.

I personally feel a connection between the Little Red Chicken and myself when it comes to interrupting stories or talking out loud to the characters in the stories to try to keep them safe. I feel so invested in stories that I don’t want bad things to happen to my favorite characters, just like Little Red Chicken shouted “Don’t go in! She’s a witch!” to Hansel and Gretel, or “Don’t talk to strangers!” to Little Red Riding Hood. I wholeheartedly enjoyed Interrupting Chicken and found Little Red Chicken to be endearing and completely invested in his Papa’s stories. I really enjoyed this story and kids always love all the interruptions. I give this four out of five stars!

Interrupting Chicken is a fun, hilarious picture book that is even better when it is read aloud! With its amazing illustrations that reinforce the text for young readers, create texture between the two types of illustrations that depict the action in the story. The hilarious interruptions by the Little Red Chicken cause giggles galore and shows young children how it feels when they shout during read alouds during their story times.

Stein, D. E. (2010). Interrupting Chicken. Massachusetts: Candlewick Press.