THE SKY IS FALLING!

Is the sky really falling?  Ask Chicken Little why she’s in a frenzy as she does the mambo.  Well it all started one day when an acorn fell on Chicken Little’s head… and it went downhill from there.  Chicken Little truly believed that the sky was falling, so of course she didn't listen to Squirrel's explanation and created chaos on the farm. 


Chaos meaning all the chickens began to dance; they did the moonwalk, the twist and the waltz.  Soon enough all the other farm animals joined in the dance even though they knew better; the animals even did the hokey-pokey.  It wasn’t long before the clever Fox showed up to stir some trouble. He believed that he could actually fool the animals to come to his den.  Read to find out if the Fox accepts the chickens challenge.

The Sky is Falling by Mark Teague is a hilarious read-a-loud picture book. This is a great twist for a classic tale, teaching the importance of listening skills, especially when creating unnecessary confusion. The illustrations are colorful and cartoon-like.  

Ages 3-5

THE CHICKEN SQUAD: THE FIRST MISADVENTURE

When in a jam call the Chicken Squad. Dirt, Sweetie, Poppy, and Sugar are cute, short, and fluffy chickens. And these are not their real names. Well here is a story of their first misadventure. So, Dirt, Sweetie, Poppy, and Sugar live in Barbara’s backyard with their mother, Moosh, and J.J. Tully, a retired search and rescue dog. Given there are other animals that come around; for example; Tail the squirrel.  


Well their first misadventure happens when Tail frantically runs into the chicken coop. From here on, Dirt and Sugar try to help by doing detective work in hopes of figuring out what Tail is afraid of.  Unfortunately, Tail’s limited vocabulary slows down their detective work.  Dirt and Sugar start with sketching basic shapes; however, Tail uses words such as “big, scary, enormous, and frightening” to describe what he is afraid of.  It takes hard work to help the terrified Tail.

Read The Chicken Squad: The First Misadventure by Doreen Cronin to find out what Tail was afraid of.  This is a light, humorous chapter book that introduces shapes.

For 2^nd – 4^th grade.

NO ROOSTERS HERE, JUST HENS!

When Ms. Lopez announced to her class that they were going to hatch eggs as a science project, Daniel was very excited.  Not only were they going to know how to hatch eggs but after the project, a raffle was going to be drawn and the lucky students, with two dollars and a parent permission note would be able to take one home.  Their city allowed them to keep hens but NO ROOSTERS.  At the end of the project, the students who had enthusiastically signed up for a chick, for one reason or another were no longer available to care for a chick, except for Daniel.  Who instead of one chick, ended up adopting all the others.  Five total!  When Daniel took the chicks home and his siblings each named one, Primrose, Twinkie, T-Rex, Daffodil and Peeper.  They all worked as a family to take care of the chicks and keep them away from trouble.  When Daniel finds out his chicken, Peeper is actually a rooster; he and his siblings create a secret chicken society to help protect Peeper from people finding out that he is a rooster and not a hen.  How will the secret society try to keep such a secret from their parents and neighbors?

The Secret Chicken Society by Judy Cox is a cute modern story of a family trying to live an urban farm lifestyle.  Not only does Daniel's family raise chickens for eggs but they also plant their own fruits, vegetables and flowers.  This is a great story for grades 1-3.

THE CASE OF THE MISSING CHICKS

J.J. is an old retired rescue dog who can find anyone, even missing chicks. When Moosh's chicks begin to disappear from the farm, J.J., for a well done cheeseburger, reluctantly takes the case where the scent leads to the house dog, Vince the Funnel.

The Trouble With Chickens: A J.J. Tully Mystery by Doreen Cronin is a fun and quirky beginning chapter book for readers in 3rd-4th told from two dogs' points of view.

IS YOUR TURKEY CHICKEN?!?!

In this funny story called A Hoboken Chicken Emergency by Daniel Pinkwater, a young boy named Arthur is sent to get the Thanksgiving turkey. Unfortunately there aren't any, so he's sent home with a huge, living chicken. Arthur grows attached to the chicken and many adventures take place as he tries to prevent the chicken from becoming Thanksgiving dinner. If you find yourself laughing at books like Captain Underpants or Junie B. Jones, you are really going to giggle at the crazy, silly things that happen to Arthur in this book! Ages 6-10.