MargaretBolingMullin

6/27/11 ** Book-a-Day: D30, Bk 34 ** Clever bedtime book in which the illustrations make the book (well, it was a Caldecott Honor!) It's bedtime for Little Red Chicken and he asks Papa to read him a story. Chicken gets so wrapped up in each of the three tales (Hansel & Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, and Chicken Little) that he interrupts, warning the characters of the impending doom and pronounces, "The End." Papa implores Little Chicken to "be good," and stop interrupting. Finally, Little Chicken writes his own story and reads it to Papa, who quickly says, "Zzzz."

Things I love:
* Different parts of the book have different styles of illustration. The three tales read to Chicken are done in classic pen & ink on sepia toned paper. Little Chicken's interjections and his own story are done in realistic looking crayon.
* The passion for reading modeled by Little Chicken and his Papa - we all want our kids to be this involved in read-aloud; we all want the parents we know to have this bed-time ritual.
* The story that Little Chicken writes at the end; again, literacy practices in action.