Chicken BIG
by
Keith Graves
On a teeny little farm,
in an itty-bitty coop,
a very small hen laid a big, humongous egg.
The egg began to shake.
The egg began to quake.
Out popped a big, humongous chick.
"What is it?" crowed the little rooster.
“It’s big!” clucked the small chicken.
“It’s enormous!” clucked the smaller chicken.
“It’s an elephant!” peeped the smallest chicken.
(She was not the sharpest beak in the flock.)
“He’s too big to stay in our itty-bitty coop,” crowed the little rooster.
“Much, much too big,” clucked the small chicken.
“He’ll break the floor!” clucked the smaller chicken.
Indoor elephants are dangerous! squawked the smallest chicken.
“I don’t feel like an elephant,” thought the big chick.
The next day, an acorn fell and conked the smallest chicken on the head.
“The sky is falling!” she peeped.
“Run for your lives!”
So, the chickens ran for their lives.
“Don’t worry,” said the big, humongous chick. It’s only an acorn. They’re actually quite tasty.”
“I don’t think elephants eat acorns,” said the little rooster.
“I heard they only eat popcorn,” clucked the small chicken.
“Maybe he’s not an elephant,” clucked the smaller chicken.
The smallest chicken looked closely at the big, humongous chick.
“Ah, my mistake,” she peeped.
“A squirrel?” thought the big humongous chick.
Later on, the smallest chicken was pecking for worms when a raindrop splatted on top of her head.
“The sky is leaking!” she peeped. “We’ll all drown! Run for your lives!”
And the chickens ran for their lives again.
“Relax,” said the big, humongous chick.
“It’s only rain. Come stand under my wings and you will stay dry.”
“I’ve never seen a squirrel do that,” crowed the little rooster.
“Not very squirrel-ish at all,” clucked the small chicken.
“Squirrels don’t keep you dry in the rain,” clucked the smaller chicken.
“I see what you’re saying,” peeped the smallest chicken.
“These are not bright chickens,” thought the big chick.
After a while, a chilly wind began to blow.
“Someone has put the world in the refrigerator!” peeped the smallest chicken. “We’re all going to freeze!”
But they didn’t get far.
“Don’t panic,” said the big, humongous chick.
“It is only the north wind. Stand behind me and I will protect you.”
The chickens all felt much better.
“An umbrella would have turned inside out in this wind,” crowed the little rooster.
“He’s not inside out as far as I can tell,” clucked the small chicken.
“I’m all warm and comfy now,” clucked the smaller chicken.
“Only one thing makes me feel this way,” peeped the smallest chicken.
“Plainly, this fellow is…a sweater!"
“This is getting ridiculous,” thought the big, humongous chick.
At naptime, the little chickens returned to the coop and found all their eggs were gone.
“We’ve been robbed!” crowed the little rooster.
“By an egg burglar!” clucked the small chicken.
“Woe is me!” clucked the smaller chicken.
“Woe is me, too!” peeped the smallest chicken.
The chickens all began to boo hoo hoo.
But the big, humongous chick saw a sneaky red fox carrying the eggs into his den a mile away.
With three giant hop-hop-hops, the big, humongous chick caught up to the fox just as he was about to make himself a scrambled egg supper.
“Yikes!” said the fox.
“I don’t think so,” said the big, humongous chick. “But you are a naughty thief!”
The frightened fox ran away with his tail between his legs, having lost all interest in poultry.
In no time, the big chick was stomping back to the coop with the missing eggs.
“Our babies!” cried the happy, little chickens.
“Our hero!” they all clucked.
“I knew it all along!” crowed the little rooster. “He’s no elephant!”
“He’s definitely not a squirrel!” clucked the small chicken.
“He’s surely no umbrella!” clucked the smaller chicken.
“He couldn’t be a sweater!” peeped the smallest chicken.
“Only ONE thing could be so smart, so kind, so warm, and so brave.”
shouted the others. “He’s a
The big, humongous chick was THRILLED to find out that he was a chicken after all.
“Oh thank goodness!” he said. “Now I can move back into the coop!”
“Actually, it’s a rather small coop,” crowed the little rooster.
“It’s itty-bitty,” clucked the small chicken.
“Teensy-weensy,” clucked the smaller chicken.
But we'll make room! peeped the smallest chicken.
Copyright
Copyright © 2010 by Keith Graves
All rights reserved.
eISBN: 978-0-8118-7237-9
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This product conforms to CPSIA 2008
Chronicle Books LLC,
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San Francisco,
California 94107
From School Library Journal
PreS-Gr 2–The pint-size poultry are as brainless as ever in this quirky revision of the classic “Chicken Little” tale, but the hero here is mysterious Chicken Big. Is he an elephant? The smaller chickens are sure that he could not be one of them and exclude him from the coop. When an acorn falls on the smallest one’s head, she thinks the sky is falling. But when clear-headed Chicken Big explains what it is and pops it into his mouth, the other chickens decide that he must really be a squirrel. Chicken Big’s unwilling companions arrive at one ridiculous conclusion after another. He protects them from the rain, so he could be an umbrella. He keeps them warm in a cold breeze, so he could be a sweater. When all the eggs go missing and Chicken Big saves the day, the others realize that “only one thing could be so smart, so kind, so warm, and so brave.” (A chicken, of course.) Graves’s pastel-hued illustrations with comic-style panels have a spontaneous and quirky quality reminiscent of Mo Willems’s Pigeon and Leonardo books, and thoughtful design plays up the disproportionate size of Chicken Big. An amusing tale that will draw giggles from preschool and early elementary read-aloud audiences, this is a fun addition to any collection or comparative folklore unit._Jayne Damron, Farmington Community Library, MI_
© Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
From Booklist
In a sort of mash-up of “Chicken Little” and “Blind Men and the Elephant,” henhouse residents are set aflutter by the arrival of an enormous new hatchling. What is it? An elephant, opines the smallest chicken. But when that same hen (“not the sharpest beak in the flock”) is hit in succession by an acorn (“The sky is falling!”), a drop of rain (“The sky is leaking!”), and a cold breeze (“Someone has put the world in the refrigerator! We’re all going to freeze!”), the monster provides both common sense and protective bulk—and in return is identified as a squirrel, then an umbrella, then a sweater. Graves illustrates this crowd-pleaser with simple cartoon scenes in which the new chick looms hugely, rolling its eyes at the antics of a quartet of scraggly, pop-eyed, appropriately silly-looking poultry. In a satisfying resolution, the chick dashes off heroically to rescue a clutch of stolen eggs from a marauding fox, earning proper recognition, acceptance—and, most likely, loud requests for repeat readings from delighted audiences. Grades 1-3. –John Peters