16. Interrupting Chicken

Ah...the bedtime story. Many of us have fond memories of many a night trying to prolong our day by asking for just one more story (or a glass of milk or a back rub...). While we partially just wanted to stay up later, we also loved the feeling of someone reading to us and giving us their undivided attention.

This book (2010) by David Ezra Stein focuses on a father chicken trying to put his daughter to sleep with a bedtime story. Unfortunately, the littlest chicken has the tendency to interrupt her father. As soon as the story begins, Chicken can't help but jump in (literally) and warn the characters of any impending doom coming toward them. Her spirited, caring personality won't let anything happen to her beloved characters. Unfortunately, this enthusiasm irritates Papa (understandably) and eventually he runs out of stories to tell. Ultimately, it is up to Chicken herself to share her own story...which is interrupted by her father's snores. As is all too common, Papa falls asleep before the little one. In the end, the pair falls asleep snuggled in the bed.

The cover of the book introduces us to our characters and sets up the premise that Chicken will be interrupting our story. On the title page, we get to see an image of the chickens' kitchen, complete with little Chicken's drawings on the refrigerator. This double page spread invites us into their home-- the staircase on the right tells us to come on upstairs and get ready to listen to the bedtime story. Most of the layout is single or double page bleeds, with the occasional circular frame surrounded by a white border thrown in (I love those circles because I feel like I am peering in through a window on this sweet relationship between father and daughter).


While this book has no deep messages, it's simple tale is quite inviting. You can't help but love Chicken and be drawn in by her vibrant personality. The love between the father and his daughter is strong and carries us through the pages, even as Chicken continues to interrupt. In fact, the way that Stein sets up the page turns builds the drama-- the reader can't wait to find out how Chicken will interrupt next.

Stein uses mixed media in this book-- watercolor, water-soluble crayon, china marker, pen, opaque white ink, and tea! All of these combined create vibrant scenes on each page. Thick outlines and rich shades of red, brown, and orange dominate the images of the Chickens' house, creating a warm, cozy atmosphere. The dark shades emphasize the fact that it is nighttime (and time for Chicken to go to bed!); the only light in the bedroom comes from the nightlight. The palette changes as Papa begins to read from the books-- the pages have sepia tones and are dominated by black ink rather than color. This makes it feel that the books are old and have been read and loved over and over by the family. 

Another great element of Interrupting Chicken's style is that when Chicken interrupts the stories, he actually enters the books. You can see the characters (like Hansel and Gretel or Little Red Riding Hood) react to his admonitions, as the forewarned characters exit the dangerous situation. These scenes are ones where the two design styles (of the chickens and the storybook characters) meld together, enhancing the fantasy element of the book. If only we could all jump into our books and yell at the characters, keeping them from making a big mistake.


Stein also incorporates the text into the varied style of the book. The text changes fonts in each distinct part of the book. When Papa and Chicken are talking, it is a modern-style font with a little flair to it. The storybook pages themselves look like a traditional, old-fashioned font, but when Chicken jumps in, his dialogue looks hand-lettered with china marker. This lettering is echoed again in the end when Chicken writes his own story. The overall style seems to be folk-art, reminiscent of fairy tales of the past.


This would make a cute bedtime story that kids would love to read over and over, laughing every time. (You could also use it in your class to teach kids not to interrupt :).) It's great for any interrupting chicken in your life.