Mrs. Chicken and the Hungry Crocodile

This book was a very enjoyable to read. I enjoyed the plot of the book and how the chicken tricked the crocodile into not eating her. I thought the chicken was very clever and really smart into tricking the crocodile they were related. I like how witty the story was and it kept me engaged with the illustrations from the story. The message of this story is to really appreciate the thing you have. Mrs. Chicken only met the crocodile because she wanted to be able to look at herself fully which is why she went to a bigger lake, and which also caused herself to almost be eaten. So at the end of the story she stayed in her puddle where she was safer to be at.

I read the book, Mrs. Chicken and the Hungry Crocodile by Won-Ldy Paye an Margaret H. Lippert. I had mixed feelings about this book after reading it. I liked the book because it was a cute and enjoyable read for elementary aged children. The characters, the chicken and the crocodile, acted as people in the book. The animals spoke English and the crocodile had a house deep in the river. Furthermore, I liked how the illustrations helped improve the story line. In the beginning of the book, the chicken says the puddle is too small for her to bathe in, so she looks at her reflection in the river. Underneath the water is the crocodile who changes her direction whenever the chicken does, so the chicken believes the crocodile is her show more reflection. It helped immensely to see pictures along with this description because it helped clear misunderstandings and allowed me to see what the author meant to say. The story line was suspenseful and interesting because I knew the chicken would go in the river, but as a reader I did not know what would happen next. However, I did not like a part of the story in this book because it was confusing. Towards the end of the story, the chicken and crocodile hatch eggs. The chicken and crocodile agree to switch babies for what seems like would be forever, but then the chicken is seen leaving the group of crocodiles with her own chicks on the next page. The author hadn’t explained why or how they switched their babies back to their correct mothers. Overall, the plot would be logical if animals could speak. Another example from the plot is when the chicken sticks her foot into the water, the crocodile bites it as it would if this happened in real life. The main idea of the story is to be kind to everyone because you don’t actually know who someone is. For example, in the story the chicken says she is the crocodiles sister so the crocodile does not eat her. The crocodile does not believe the chicken, but before they have the babies the chicken switches the eggs to prove they are related. Then, the crocodile and chicken have a positive relationship because the crocodile lets the chickens go. In the crocodiles eyes, if she had been mean and ate the chicken, she would have never experienced the relationship that formed between them. show less

Mrs. Chicken learns that while the puddle by her home is familiar and boring, it is much safer than the wild river and what dwells within it. This is a fun folktale from Liberia that teaches some good life lessons. The illustrations are playful, simple, and effective.

I really liked this story. In a class of first or second graders, it would definitely be fun to use theatre to bring it to life. Students could take on the roles of the narrator, the crocodile, the chicken, and the six eggs.

A witty little story of how Mrs. Chicken fooled Hungry Crocodile into believing they were sisters in order to save her life. After Mrs. Chicken foolishly gets caught by Hungry Crocodile she sets into motion a plot which involves switching their eggs to trick Crocodile into letting her go. After their eggs hatch, Crocodile is convinced they must be sister.s...and who can eat their sister?

When Mrs. Chicken goes to the river to check her reflection, she wonders why her skin looks green and scaly, but she still steps into the water to be grabbed by the crocodile and taken to her house for dinner (main course, chicken). But Mrs. Chicken has a few tricks of her own. She tells the crocodile they are sisters and convinces her by switching eggs. This allows Mrs. Chicken and her chicks to go free. This retelling of a traditional Liberian tale is funny and surprising. The language is accessible and the illustrations are simple and engaging. This book would be appropriate for ages 4 to 8.

I didn't particularly care for this story. I thought the big message of it was manipulation because the chicken told the crocodile that they were sisters and "proved it" by switching their eggs while the crocodile is sleeping. After the crocodile believed they were sisters they switched their babies to the way that it "should have been" (chickens with the chicken and crocodile babies with the crocodile) and the chicken told the crocodile they were never coming back, even though the two were "friends" now. I don't think this sends a good message to children because it's like saying if you just switch things around, you can always be right. Granted, the chicken was just trying to get itself out of trouble, however, I don't think this show more sends a good message to the children.
On the brighter side, I do like the illustrations of the book and how the background is always dark and both the chicken and crocodile are bold colors. It makes you focus on them and makes them really stand out. Since the story is based around the two of them, I feel it is appropriate that it is done this way. show less

A Chicken wanders down to the river to find a bigger refection of herself so she can observe her “Big bright eyes. Short, smooth beak,” and especially her wings. She peres into the river and much to her dismay sees “scaly green legs,” “a long mouth,” and “sharp teeth.” She finds it odd that she sees these things in the river. She continues to examine her refection turning and switching views to make sure her eyes were seeing the scales correctly. On her final attempt to see her wings she steps into the river and “SNAP,” the crocodile grabbed her foot and she squawked “BOK!”
The Crocodile took the chicken back to her home and released the chicken into her house. The chicken flew up to the rafters where she stayed show more knowing that the crocodile wanted to eat her up, which revealed the conflict of the story. The Crocodile said she would fatten up the chicken before eating her. Which bought Mrs. Chicken time to devise a plan.

This African tale is a great way to show children how thinking and using their knowledge can get them out of any situation. show less