Jenny. Many of us at one time or another blurt things out while someone else is speaking, which can be annoying but also the source of a lot of humor -- the Interrupting Cow knock knock joke, for example, never seems to get old. What drew you to this subject and why did you know it would be funny not only to children but adults?
David. I come from a family where folks get really excited about ideas and sometimes all want to express themselves at once. So that experience is definitely in the book. :)
The real seed of this book was, I'd heard the interrupting chicken joke and thought it was funny, and I wondered, "Who is this chicken anyway? Why does it interrupt?" There was a character there waiting to be discovered.
I'm glad I heard it with a chicken first, not a cow, because chickens are funnier than cows. Moos are funny sounding, but the word cow is not that funny. The word chicken is instant comedy in and of itself!
I knew the book would be funny to a wide audience because parents can relate to the dad's growing frustration with Chicken's interruptions, and kids can relate to the exuberance of the chicken, who knows how she should be acting, but can't help herself. She loves stories too much! And she can't stand idly by while the characters in the bedtime stories get into a jam.
Jenny. I love the way the combs on the little red chicken and her papa look like bouffant hair-dos and the waffles resemble handlebar moustaches. What is it about poultry that cracks you up and is any animal as funny as a chicken? If so, which one and why does it make you laugh?
David. The chicken is the king (or queen) of comedy. (See #1 above.) The clucking, the feathers, the way they cock their heads… I would be ruining it by delving too deeply into the "why". They just are!
