The Sky Is Falling!

This twist begins traditionally enough, with the acorn hitting Chicken Little on the head and her familiar refrain about the sky falling. “‘I don’t think so,’ said Squirrel. Squirrel knew a thing or two about acorns. ‘See, it fell from a tree.’” Nevertheless, soon all the chickens have worked themselves into such a frenzy that they burst into…dance. (The moonwalk, the mambo, the twist; the rhumba, the waltz, the hokey-pokey.) Good-sized illustrations develop the text’s wry humor, capturing the wild-eyed dithering of the chickens and creating contrast with the other animals’ obvious scorn (“Squirrel explained about the acorn. ‘You must be kidding,’ said Cat”). Well-designed layouts bring energy to each spread as chickens dance right off the pages, and soon all the animals have caught the spirit and joined a conga line. Fox’s presence grows throughout, at first lurking small in the background (where he can be seen firing that acorn at Chicken Little’s head), then slowly looming larger with cutlery and a cookbook until he and his chicken-heavy menu dominate half a double-page spread. A little mocking goads even him into dancing, but then an apple falls from a tree and knocks him out. A careful look shows that the apple had help and that Chicken Little deserves more credit than she has received. julie roach

This twist begins with the acorn hitting Chicken Little and her refrain about the sky falling. The chickens get so worked up that they burst into...dance (the other animals show obvious scorn). Good-sized illustrations develop the text's wry humor, capturing the chickens' wild-eyed dithering and showing Fox lurking until he's goaded into dancing--and a falling apple knocks him out. Chicken Little deserves more credit.