The Art of Interrupting Comes To Life In This Book
by: David Ezra Stein
I have children. They are, for the most part, normal, well-behaved children. Just like most children, they interrupt conversations. It’s not done in the amazing way my younger sister perfected. She would say, “Mom. Mom. Mom!” and when my mom would stop her conversation, my sister would say, “I love you!”
My children, like children before them, love to interrupt the story at bedtime. It prolongs the bedtime hour. It drives me bonkers. Now, author David Ezra Stein, writes about this art in his book, The Interrupting Chicken (published by Candlewick Press).
This book is clever. It tells the bedtime story in the same fashion our bedtime ritual goes down.
Little Red Hen plays the part of my child. It’s bedtime and Papa is trying to read her a story. From the title, you already know this isn’t going to go well. Sure enough, as soon as the story opens and Papa is reading Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Hen interrupts.
It’s a hilarious take on the story as Little Red Hen exclaims, “Don’t go in! She’s a witch. So Hansel and Gretel didn’t. The End!”
It becomes a familiar routine as Papa continues on with two more classic bedtime stories: Little Red Riding Hood, Chicken Little.
In addition to capturing the bedtime ritual and children’s fixation on interrupting, he also illustrates The Interrupting Chicken. The artwork is impressive. It’s watercolor, water-soluble crayon, marker pen, and opaque white ink with stunning detail. The colors are inviting and vivid and tell the story without words.
We were giggling as the story was read and talking about how it always happens at our house too! I loved the clever ending. I won’t spoil it for you, but you’ll love what happens when Papa becomes frustrated with the interruptions and asks Little Red Hen to write her own bedtime story!
I was provided a copy of The Interrupting Chicken in order to facilitate an honest review. NO other compensation was received. The opinions are my own and were in no way influenced by the sponsor. Others’ experiences may vary.
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