Chicken Little [Hardcover]

Rebecca Emberley (Author), Ed Emberley (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 3 and up

BONK! An award-winning father-daughter team make the sky fall an entirely new way.

You may already know the tale of a not-quite-so-bright little chicken whose encounter with an acorn and gravity convinces him the sky is falling, but youÕve never seen the story told this way. A brilliant collaboration brings us a bold and colorful retelling of the classic tale, as crazy-eyed Chicken and all his panicked friends run away from the sky and right into an eye-catching gatefold surprise.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

There's a dash of snarkiness in the father-and-daughter Emberleys' version of the familiar fable, but it's to good purpose. By wryly emphasizing that Chicken Little and his clueless compatriots have no plan beyond hysterically running and crashing into one another (Honestly, with names like these, is it any wonder? the narrator asks after introducing Loosey Goosey), readers can indulge in a healthy feeling of superiority. The Emberleys add a twist at the end, which receives full play on a foldout spread—unfortunately, the illustrations here don't track (the fowl, supposedly inside a fox's mouth, are prematurely shown outside it). The eye-popping colors and handcrafted shapes reflect the aesthetic that Rebecca Emberley has employed successfully elsewhere (see My Big Book of Spanish Words, for example), and the addition of Bonk! Ack! and other cartoony interjections heightens the silliness. However, the comic chaos that drives the story has infected the composition. Instead of savoring the action, readers may find that their eyes skid across the pages. Ages 3–7. (Mar.)
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From School Library Journal

Starred Review. PreSchool-Grade 2—The Emberleys' interpretation of this oft-told tale explodes with concentrated color in ingeniously simple and wickedly wacky collage shapes. Chicken Little is adorable, a super-bright yellow cutie pie with huge, three-colored eyes and a punklike crest. With a "BONK!" and an "EEP!," he is knocked senseless by an acorn that's almost half his size, and his eyeballs are replaced by stars. The umbrella he grabs "to protect his scrambled noggin" is an umbrella-shaped piece of sky, and the white clouds on the intense blue melt into the white page backgrounds. More "BONK!"s and "AWK!"s follow as C.L. caroms off Henny Penny, Ducky Lucky, Loosey Goosey, and a gorgeously colorful Turkey Lurky. The sound effects and the snippy, deliciously snide narration complement the pictures perfectly. When the birds enter the "warm, dark cave" into which the fox has invited them (his mouth), the hen squawks, "'Pheeeeew! It stinks in here.' 'And the floor is squishy and wet!' quacked the duck." These words appear in white on a jet-black spread, altered only by several vivid pairs of perplexed eyes. In the foldout page that follows, readers see the creatures' miraculous escape. The pithy plot and magnetic illustrations will attract younger readers; the sassy storytelling and quirky humor will appeal to all ages.—Susan Weitz, formerly at Spencer-Van Etten School District, Spencer, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
  
• Hardcover: 34 pages
• Publisher: Roaring Brook Press (March 3, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596434643
• ISBN-13: 978-1596434646
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 10.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #441,503 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You're going to love this new madcap take on an old favorite!, July 7, 2009

By 

D. Fowler "Dragonfly77" (Vermont) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chicken Little (Hardcover)

Chicken Little was a dumb cluck, even for a chicken and he could get very excited over nothing. One day an "acorn fell from the sky and hit him on the head . . . BONK! EEP!" His eyes bugged out and he plopped right over onto the ground. When he came to his senses, he was all riled up thinking that the sky was falling down. "The sky is falling! The sky is falling! I must run for my life! And that he did. He grabbed his umbrella to cover his head and ran off willy nilly.

Crash, boom, bang! He ran right into Henny Penny who didn't have the sense of a duck. Chicken Little started yelling again and told her the sky was falling. Next thing you know they were both on the run. "The sky is falling! The sky is falling!" Lucky Ducky, who wasn't really lucky was their next victim. "BONK! ACK!" The crowd was getting bigger and the more they ran the more critters they encountered. Loosey Goosey and Turkey Lurky soon joined the crowd as they all ran for their lives. But wait a minute. Fox wanted to know why all the "little birdies" were "going at such a frantic pace." Hmmmmm. The fox had a nice place for them to rest and he opened his mouth to let them in. Was that going to be the end of the silly little birdies?

This is an adorable take on the old Chicken Little story. The colorful, wide-eyed characters are very appealing and add a lot to this tale of a hysterical race to escape the falling sky. If you are a grandparent who might be a bit hesitant about purchasing an old classic with a new twist, don't worry . . . your little one will love it (and you will too)!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars hilarious, December 1, 2009

By 

Leda D. Schubert (Vermont) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chicken Little (Hardcover)

It's not fair to give a book one star (see other reviewer) just because Amazon didn't ship it, which has nothing to do with the quality of the book, so I feel compelled to chime in here. CHICKEN LITTLE is positively hilarious. Laugh-out-loud funny. Snorty funny. A retelling of the familiar tale, bursting with color, feathers, and read-aloud joy.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic book with vibrant colors, December 15, 2009

By 

AD "Mom" (Princeton, NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chicken Little (Hardcover)

We love reading this book to our 4 year old. The sentences are really funny but easy to read. All the pictures of each character are vibrant and exciting with special sound effects added (BOINK! AWK! ONK!) when the chicken bumps into every character. Our son is visually impaired but is able to make out the characters very well and especially loves the Turkey Lurkey colors. He loves this book sooo much that we are now planning to make Chicken Little puppets and act this story out.