Chicken is cranky. He doesn’t know why, he just is. The sun is bright, his tail itches and everything just bothers him. Until the day he accidentally meets his new best friend Worm.
Worm helps Chicken see things in a new light, and that maybe everything isn’t so terrible after all. It turns out that maybe Chicken is just lonely and needs a friend, and having a friend can change everything.
In the second story, Chicken and Worm discuss what it means to be best friends, since they are both new to the friend thing. In the final story, they discuss and overcome their fears to try something new.
The book consists of three chapters, each a complete story about Chicken and Worm and about the length of an average Beginning Reading book. The tone and style of the book is direct, a little snarky and very funny. This is a perfect read for fans of Mo Willems’ books.
Battersby as the author and illustrator does an excellent job depicting the scenes for the reader. Each illustration is simple but clearly and colorfully evokes the feelings of both Chicken and Worm, as well as easily showing their movement through the different scenes.
One of the best things about the story is that it has the potential to be used as a tool to discuss things like feelings, friendship and overcoming fears. For example, the first story ends with a list of things that make Chicken cranky and the things that don’t make Chicken cranky. This could be a great opportunity to ask your child what things make them feel cranky and not cranky and to talk about ways to work through those feelings. The same can be applied when talking about what it’s like to have a friend and be a friend, or what things are scary and how to be brave.
Overall this was a funny story that is perfect for kids ranging from kindergarten to second grade.
