Interrupting Chicken: Cookies for Breakfast

PreS-Gr 1–The small red chicken (first spied in Interrupting Chicken) who stars in Stein’s book so closely mirrors the behavior of preschoolers that it will be hard for listeners not to nod along in recognition. Papa is awakened early by his young charge, who snuggles in with a book of nursery rhymes and makes the case for the cookies for breakfast in bed. Thus, “C is for cookies,” as in Vitamin C, and “Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack—” breaks off to the interrupting chicken’s version: “Brought me some cookies when I was sick!” Papa patiently debates, despite exhaustion, why they cannot have cookies for breakfast, or for lunch, but Chicken is adamant and, through drawings and wordplay, gets his way—with pancakes. It’s all but impossible to resist these arguments, and story hours may need to include cookies for hungry participants. Comedic timing, characters’ faces, and Chicken’s persistence are a master class in interruption; Stein doesn’t miss a beat.