Chicken Little

A Bump on the Head

Once upon a time, there was a little chick named Chicken Little. He was a happy little fellow, but he was also a bit of a worrier.

One sunny morning, Chicken Little was pecking for seeds under a big oak tree. Peck, peck, peck.

All of a sudden — BONK! — something fell from the tree and hit him right on the top of his head.

"Ouch!" cried Chicken Little. He did not look up to see what it was. (If he had, he would have seen a little brown acorn rolling on the ground.)

Instead, Chicken Little gasped. "Oh my feathers! The sky is falling! The sky is falling! I must go and tell the King!"

And off he ran, as fast as his little legs could carry him.

Henny Penny

Down the road, Chicken Little met a hen named Henny Penny.

"Where are you running so fast?" asked Henny Penny.

"The sky is falling!" cried Chicken Little. "A piece of it fell right on my head! We must tell the King!"

"Goodness me!" clucked Henny Penny. She did not stop to think or ask any questions. "Then I will come too!"

So Chicken Little and Henny Penny ran down the road together.

Cocky Locky and Ducky Lucky

Soon they met a rooster named Cocky Locky.

"Where are you all running?" he crowed.

"The sky is falling!" cried Chicken Little and Henny Penny. "We must tell the King!"

"Oh no!" said Cocky Locky. And without asking how they knew, he ran along too.

Next they met a duck named Ducky Lucky.

"The sky is falling!" they all cried. "We must tell the King!"

"Then I am coming with you!" quacked Ducky Lucky. And he joined the worried little line.

Now there were four of them, running and flapping and squawking down the road — and not one of them had stopped to look up at the sky!

A Clever Old Fox

Around the next bend, they met a sly old fox named Foxy Loxy. He had a bushy tail and a hungry grin.

"My, my," said the fox in a smooth voice. "Where are you all hurrying to?"

"The sky is falling!" they cried. "We must tell the King!"

The fox licked his lips. He thought the silly little birds would make a fine dinner.

"The King, you say? Why, I know a shortcut to the King's castle," said the fox. "Follow me. It goes right past my cosy den."

The birds did not stop to think. They followed the fox straight toward his den.

A Wise Owl Saves the Day

But high in a tree sat a wise old owl, who had seen the whole thing.

"Stop!" hooted the owl. "Chicken Little, what really fell on your head? Did you look up to see?"

Chicken Little blinked. "Well… no. I didn't look. I just felt a bump."

The owl flew down to the oak tree and picked up the little acorn. "Here is what fell on your head," she said kindly. "It is only an acorn. The sky is perfectly fine. And that fox was not leading you to the King — he was leading you to his dinner table!"

The fox saw he was caught. With a grumpy huff, he slunk away into the woods, his tummy still empty.

Look Before You Leap

Chicken Little felt rather silly. "I should have looked up first," he said. "I made everyone scared over a tiny acorn!"

"That's quite all right," said the wise owl. "Just remember next time: before you panic, find out the truth. And before you follow the crowd, stop and think for yourself."

And from that day on, whenever something surprised Chicken Little, he always looked up first — and the sky never fell on his head again.

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The moral: Check the facts before you panic, and always think for yourself instead of following the crowd.

Want more read-along tales? Try The Tortoise and the Hare or The Lion and the Mouse next.