The CHICKEN –

Perhaps one of the most famous Chickens in children’s literature is the Chicken in the fable The Remarkable Story of Chicken Little, first published in Roxbury, MA in 1840.

The Chicken herself, Chicken Little, continues to teach generation after generation of children with her mistaken belief and fear of imminent danger.  

But what is the real tweet-tweet on the Chicken in real-life?  Here are a few little tidbits to pass along to your kids and grandkids to combine literature and life:

– There are more than 400 varieties of Chickens.

– Chickens are known to have their own unique and special personalities.

– There are dual-purpose Chickens for both eggs and meat… and there are purely egg producing Chickens.

– A Chicken’s sense of touch is more developed than its senses of smell and taste.

– Chickens rarely stray too far from the hen house, and a chick chirps when it’s lost.  A chick is able to recognize its mother’s voice.

– Chicks enjoy running, climbing and perching.

– At 3 – 4 months, male chicks begin to imitate roosters and female chicks begin to imitate hens.

– Chickens sleep with their heads under their feathers.

Ah.  The Chicken in real-life.  Combining literature and life makes reading so much more special.

Reading The Remarkable Story of Chicken Little with your kids and grandkids, with knowledge of the Chicken as a real-life bird, gives you so much to discuss… and your kids so much to think about as they embrace the literature.

Perhaps Chicken Little was born with her own little fearful personality that caused her to worry about such things as the sky falling when a leaf fell on her tail.  And maybe Chicken Little’s sense of touch made the leaf feel like the entire sky.

Maybe Chicken Little had strayed too far from home when she went running about in a gentleman’s garden, where she had no business to be.

Or just maybe Chicken Little couldn’t find her mother or hear her mother’s voice calling her home.

The Remarkable Story of Chicken Little gives us a great opportunity to talk with our kids about fears… sometimes even  unreasonable and unjustified ones.  In a sense, this may be Chicken Little’s greatest gift to us.

Join me here each day in August for AUGUST TWEET-TWEETS on 365 Days of Literacy for Kids! A little fun, a little learning and a bit of “tweet-tweet”!