At our libraries, we just learned that September is National Chicken Month, which has led to some adorable “book book book” displays. It made for a fun storytime theme this week too.

Here is what we did:

Books:

Chicken Story Time by Sandy Asher; illustrated by Mark Fearing

Just like the title says, this book is about chickens coming to storytime at the library. At first there is only one, but then more and more chickens come every week, until there is too much clucking and noise for the librarian to be heard. But she finds a solution that works for everyone: having the children each read to a small group of chickens. The kids loved making chicken noises.

Chicken in Space by Adam Lehrhaupt; illustrated by Shahar Kober

Very cute story about a chicken who wants to go into space with her friends, but only Pig will go with her. The two fly in a basket carried by balloons, and encounter an asteroid (a baseball), a comet (kite), and birds (alien space ships).

Chickens to the Rescue by John Himmelman

Cute, simple story about a flock of chickens who rushes to the rescue each time a member of the Greenstalk family runs into trouble: dropping a watch in well, feeling too tired to make dinner, or needing help with a last minute book report. The kids enjoyed joining in on the “Chickens to the Rescue!” line.

Is Everyone Ready for Fun? by Jan Thomas

This is a great book for storytime because the kids can join in on the actions. Three cows declare that it is time to jump up and down on Chicken’s sofa. When Chicken objects, they decide it’s time to dance, and then wiggle on his sofa instead, and eventually, to nap.

Songs:

I Bought Me a Rooster

I love this cumulative traditional song because the kids can suggest a new animal and animal sound for each verse, and it gets longer and longer each time. For Outdoor Musical Storytime, they suggested a dog, a cow, a crocodile, a goat, and a duck.

[C] I bought me a rooster and the rooster pleased me
I fed my rooster on the [G7] bayberry tree
[C] My little rooster goes, [F] “Cock-a-doodle doo!
Dee [C] Doodle, Dee [F] Doodle, Dee [G7] Doodle, Dee [C] Doo!”

[C] I bought me a dog and the dog pleased me
I fed my dog on the [G7] bayberry tree
[C] My little dog goes, [F] “Ruff! Ruff! Ruff!”
[C] My little rooster goes, [F] “Cock-a-doodle doo!
Dee [C] Doodle, Dee [F] Doodle, Dee [G7] Doodle, Dee [C] Doo!”

I bought me a cow and the cow pleased me…etc.

The Chicken Dance by Werner Thomas

I’ve never done this before, but for this song, I brought a bluetooth speaker and connected it to my phone to play a recording. The kids loved doing the motions in the main part of the song (as seen in the YouTube video below), and then doing their own dance in the parts in between. We danced with play scarves at Family Storytime.

Zoom Zoom Zoom

We do this song with the parachute every week in Outdoor Musical Storytime, but this week it fit perfectly with the book Chicken in Space. I put a chicken puppet on the parachute so the kids could make it fly in the air. We sang it with play scarves at Family Storytime.

Zoom, Zoom, Zoom,
We’re going to the Moon.
Zoom, Zoom, Zoom,
We’re going to the Moon.
If you want to take a trip,
Climb aboard my rocket ship.
Zoom, Zoom, Zoom,
We’re going to the Moon.
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Blast-off!

Shaky Egg Song by Laurie Berkner

We did this as our instrument play-along at the end.

[C7] I know a chicken, (I know a chicken)
And she laid an egg. (And she laid an egg)
Oh [F7] I know a chicken, (I know a chicken)
And she [C7] laid an egg. (And she laid an egg)
[G7] Oh my goodness! (Oh, my goodness)
It’s a [C7] shaky egg! (It’s a shaky egg!)

Now shake them [C7] fast!
Shake them [F7] fast!
Shake them [C7] fast!
[G7] Shake your eggs!
[C7] Shake them [G7] fast!

[C7] I know a chicken, (I know a chicken)
And she laid an egg. (And she laid an egg)
Oh [F7] I know a chicken, (I know a chicken)
And she [C7] laid an egg. (And she laid an egg)
[G7] Oh my goodness! (Oh, my goodness)
It’s a [C7] shaky egg! (It’s a shaky egg!)

Now shake them [C7] slow!
You know how it [F7] goes.
Shake them [C7] slow,
[G7] Because you know how it goes.
[C7] Shake them [G7] fast! Oh, shake those eggs!

[C7] I know a chicken, (I know a chicken)
And she laid an egg. (And she laid an egg)
Oh [F7] I know a chicken, (I know a chicken)
And she [C7] laid an egg. (And she laid an egg)
[G7] Oh my goodness! (Oh, my goodness)
It’s a [C7] shaky egg! (It’s a shaky egg!)

Now shake them [C7] in a circle.
Shake them [F7] round and round.
Don’t let them touch the [C7] ground.
[G7] Now shake them up and down.
[C7] You’ve got to shake them up and [G7] down.

Stay & Play: Paper Plate Chickens

I got this idea from AllFreeKidsCrafts.Com , although I used paper plates instead of paper circles. I mostly wanted it to be an opportunity for kids to practice cutting, so I brought a variety of scissors, including different sizes of loop scissors, which can be easier for little hands.

Before the storytime, I had cut out paper hearts and triangles for the crown and beak. For the Stay & Play, I put out the scissors, glue sticks, paper plates, googly eyes, and paper shapes. The kids enjoyed exploring the scissors, and also putting a variety of googly eyes on their chickens.

Do you have any favorite books or songs about chickens? Please share them in the comments below.