Chicken Little

The story of a small boy (a chicken) who is considered to be a nuisance to his town and in the end, he saves the planet from invaders from outer space and becomes a hero. Although it may not be easy to tie it into real life, it is a fun and sweet story which will get the attention of young listeners.

Chicken Little is on her way home when something hits her on the head. She doesn’t realize that it’s just an acorn and she thinks that the sky is falling! Several friends come by to see what’s wrong and when they hear the bad news they freak out and try to solve the problem. Meanwhile, the wolf is hiding in the bushes planning to capture and eat Chicken Little and all her friends. He comes up with a plan but Chicken Little ends up saving the day!

Although I remember reading this book as a child, I didn’t really enjoy it the second time around. The story causes too much stress and anxiety for me because obviously the sky isn’t falling but Chicken Little causes all her friends to freak out. However, I liked it as a kid so maybe it appeals to children.

A teacher could use this book to sharpen the skill of predicting endings to books. The teacher could read the beginning of the story and have the children create their own ending. This book has various animals throughout it so this would be a great book to read to younger children who are just learning and becoming familiar with farm animals.

Summary: As the wolf is checking out Chicken Little, something from the sky hits him in the head. Chicken Little cries for help. Then a duck, hen, turkey, and a goose comes to help cause he thinks the sky is falling. The wolf sees a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner,

Personal Review: The book is well written and the pictures are drawn excellent. Helps kids to watch out for strangers.

Classroom Extension: Have the students make up their own Chicken Little story with different animals.

An acorn falls on the little chickens head and the chicken thinks the sky is falling while the tricky fox behind the bush trick them in into getting in his "poulice" truck. When the fox gets them in the truck there is a sky police helicopter that comes crashing down and when it lands on the truck the only part you can see is sky so the fox runs away yelling the "sky is falling" but then they catch the fox. I think this is a really cute book and in my classroom could just be a fun book to read. I think this is a first grade level.

Summary:
While taking a walk, Chicken Little is suddenly hit on the head by an acorn. Startled, Chicken Little yells, "The sky is falling!" The scream is overheard by Henny Penny along with several other types of birds who demand Chicken Little calls the police. Hiding in the bushes nearby is Foxy Loxy thinking of ways to cook the birds for dinner. The clever fox disguises himself as a police officer and traps the birds in his police van. Before the birds are cooked for dinner Hefty Hippo saves the day!

Personal Reaction:
Reading Chicken Little brought back so many childhood memories. When I was younger I would read this book. I think Chicken Little is a fun way to teach of folktales to children. Smaller children especially love books about animals.

Classroom Extension Ideas:
For the classroom , Chicken Little would be a fun book to read to younger children. Small children love the "bad guy, good guy books". It would be a good lesson to teach children about how the "good guy", who would be Chicken Little, always over powers the "bad guy", who in this case would be Foxy Loxy.