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Thursday, April 21, 2022

Picture Book Review: Interrupting Chicken: Cookies for Breakfast by David Ezra Stein (11/9/2021)



Quick Booktalk

Chicken brings cookies to her dad as breakfast in bed, and he begins to read some nursery rhymes, but Chicken can't help but interrupt with cookie-related commentary.


About the Illustrations

Though perhaps they aren;t quite as distinctive as they were in the original Interrupting Chicken, the pictures in this volume are done in the same style as all the others of the series. Fans of the earlier books will instantly feel at home in this one. 


Story Time Possibilities

I find these books difficult to read aloud effectively because of how much is happening on each page. I think to do it well, you'd either have to do very distinctive voices to separate the main text from the nursery rhyme text inside Chicken's book, or you would need two readers. The pictures are also difficult to understand from much of a distance so it might work in a virtual story time or with a very small group, but otherwise, there are better options on the nursery rhyme theme.


Readers Advisory

I flagged a few things in this book that parents might want to know. One is that the story repeatedly identiifes cookies as unhealthy foods. I know a lot of parents don't like to label foods in that way because it can lead to issues with eating. Another thing I noticed this time is how utterly annoying Chicken's interruptions really are. I have five kids, and I don't really want to send the message that interrupting is cute or funny. There is also a lot of obnoxious early elementary school humor that I also prefer not to encourage. 


Disclosure 

I received a review copy of Interrupting Chicken: Cookies for Breakfast from Candlewick Press in exchange for an honest review.