Chicken Little - By Steven Kellog - Read Aloud Bedtime Story

Chicken Little is a fable about deception and the dangers of panic and jumping to conclusions. The story focuses on a little chicken who's hit on the head with an acorn and makes the wrong conclusion that the sky is falling because a piece of it fell down and hit her on the head. Along come some other characters who join her in the panic and rush around trying to figure out a solution to this terrible problem which they are incorrect about. Unfortunately, a fox, which is an animal always interested in getting hold of a bird to eat, uses their panic against them to convince them to get into his van. In this story it looks like he's about to get away with his plan when his careless toss of the offending acorn causes a helicopter to fall out of the sky right on top of him and he's landed on by a police hippo. He goes to prison in the end where he has to live off terrible green juice instead of fresh chicken and duck.

This is a fun little story with a deeply meaningful lesson that can be reflected on over and over again throughout modern history as we see people who would take advantage of others use similar tactics to the fox using panic and false conclusions to get people to do stupid things. This is a story that arms children early on, with the experience and skill to avoid panic, think rationally, and make smart decisions for themselves. It's a culturally relevant value that helps to build character. This I believe, is one of those simple little stories that condenses important values in a simple, easy-to-understand form that can be laid over our own perspective throughout our lives to see the parallels and figure out how we might improve our decision-making. It's a story with constant relevance because life is filled with mistake-making. So I hope you'll share it with your children and help them learn to be watchful for those who would try to trick them into doing things that could harm them.

About the Author
Steven Kellogg was "moved by the simplicity, the subtleties, and the poignance of the writing in this story." He welcomed the opportunity to reillustrate it in full color. Mr. Kellogg is an award-winning author and illustrator who has created more than 100 children's books, including The Three Little Pigs, Paul Bunyan, Johnny Appleseed, and Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind Crockett. He is the illustrator of Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town and The Baby Beebee Bird. Mr. Kellogg is a recipient of the David McCord Citation and the Regina Medal for his distinguished contribution to children's literature. He lives with his wife, Helen, in upstate New York.

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