Summary: Henrietta’s two older sisters try to convince her that she is actually a chicken and not a person.
Analysis: The Chicken of the Family would be a good optional read aloud for a kindergarten or first grade class. It would especially appeal to children who have older siblings. I would use it as a read aloud, since there is a lot of text on some of the pages and that could be intimidating for a child just learning to read. If I used it as a read aloud with just one or two children, I’d use my finger to underline each word as I read it. I’d pause over simple words like “the,” “she,” “family” and “love,” and ask the child to help me by shouting out the words they recognize.
If the book appealed to the child on an emotional level, I would ask him to tell me about a time his older siblings teased him. And we could talk about how that made him feel and what to do if it happened again.
As a potential activity, for after the reading, I would ask the students what type of animal they would most like to be? I would take a few minutes to brainstorm and coach them on how those animals behave and what they eat. Then I would encourage the children to spend a few minutes pretending to be their animals.
Citation: Amato, M. (2008). The Chicken of the Family. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.
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