Mrs. Chicken and the Hungry Crocodile

by Margaret H. Lippert and Won-Ldy Paye

Book Overview

Mrs. Chicken has to think fast to outwit hungry Crocodile, who wants to eat her for dinner. One morning Mrs. Chicken took her bath in a puddle. "Cluck, cluck," she said proudly. "What a pretty chicken I am!" Mrs. Chicken can't see her wings in the puddle, so she walks down to the river where she can admire all of herself. She doesn't know that Crocodile is there, waiting for dinner--and a tasty chicken would do nicely! To save herself, Mrs. Chicken...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0805070478
• ISBN13: 9780805070477
• Release Date: May 2003
• Publisher: Henry Holt & Company
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.76 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 8.3" x 10.3"
• Age Range: 3 to 7 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 2

Customer Reviews

A wonderful retelling!

The storyteller's voice is delightful and compelling and makes this tale perfect for oral telling or read-alouds. The illustrations are a perfect complement to the text and the full effect is even better than the sum of its stellar parts.

Read it again!

We just got this book last week. When my kids take turns choosing books to read, this one comes first, regardless of whose turn it is. On the first reading my easily scared 4-year-old sank deeper and deeper into the couch as Mrs. Chicken got closer and closer to being eaten by Crocodile. When she actually SNAPPED on her leg, he couldn't watch. But as Mrs. Chicken's clever plan unfolded he started smiling and by the end he was laughing at what he called the coolest trick ever. He loves it.

A tasty animal tale

"Mrs. Chicken and the Hungry Crocodile" combines a text by Won-Ldy Paye and Margaret H. Lippert with illustrations by Julie Paschkis. The book jacket notes that this is a retelling of a Liberian story, and that coauthor Paye is from Liberia and was trained as a storyteller by his grandmother.The story tells how Mrs. Chicken, while trying to see her reflection in the river, encounters the toothy croc of the title. Mrs. C tries to outwit the croc in order to avoid becoming a chicken dinner. This is a great story: it's funny, features a high stakes conflict between two strong female characters, and has suspenseful plot twists. There is a delicious irony throughout. Paschkis' colorful drawings perfectly complement the story. The artwork has a whimsical quality and clever visual touches; the main characters are particularly well realized.

A book adults will enjoy reading to children

This is a wonderful wacky folktale. The children will enjoy listening to this story and the adults will love reading it to them. In this story, a chicken finds a most unusual way of outwitting a rather gulliable crocodile. I have read this book to many kindergarten classes and I have given it, as a gift, to many young children. The response is always a happy one. The kindergarten kids will ask me to please read it again.