About 15 years ago, one of my children was given Juliet Dallas-Conté and Alison Bartlett’s ‘Cock-a-Moo-Moo’ as a birthday present. It was well-chosen by a friend and fellow primary school teacher (who now teaches at Ledbury Primary School). When my children grew up, I added it to my picture book collection and it continues to be one of my favourites.
Yesterday afternoon I read it to a group of 0-5 year olds and their grown-ups at Ledbury Children’s Centre’s Storytime. The first page introduces a poor, forgetful cockerel – with whom I can relate…
He does his best, but…
“He’s doing it wrong!” one of the preschoolers called out. “It’s cock-a-doodle-doo!”
The chickens aren’t impressed either:
Looking into the children’s faces made me wonder if they were feeling for cockerel in his distress (or just mirroring my deeply sorrowful expression and tone of voice).
The remaining pages of the book offer the reader/performer even more scope for changes in tone – from sleeping animals, to a build up of suspense, to DANGER!!!, onto an exciting chase… and then a gloriously happy ending.
Unfortunately, the book is currently out of print, but you can buy a hardback, used copy for less than £3 (including postage) from Abe Books. If you’d like to see and hear the whole story, I found this on YouTube (the young reader in the video does a superb job of using the rise and fall in her voice to hold the attention of the listener).
I recorded some of my own audios to go with the pages, which I was going to include, but I chickened out (did you see that one coming?).
Read with Julia 