A short Preview of
The Chicken and the Dog
Written by Andre and Amanda Maxwell
Illustrated by Jill Carter
Crimson and Clover lived in a small coop on the eastside of town near a small yellow house. They had everything a chicken could want: fresh water, bowls filled with food, just the way they liked it.
Crimson and Clover were the best of friends.
They ate together. They played together.
When it was time to,
they even laid eggs together.
Crimson and Clover shared their yard with a big black dog. Chickens and dogs are not known to get along and at first, Crimson and Clover were not happy about sharing their yard. To their surprise, the dog was very polite and left Crimson and Clover alone. He even shared his treats with them.
The people would feed them good food from inside of the yellow house. Clover especially liked the food from inside. She loved the smells and delicious tastes, they were much more flavorful than the usual feed. Crimson liked the food but preferred her comfortable nest and the warmth it provided.
Winter was coming and the weather was getting colder. Crimson and Clover had stopped laying eggs and roosted more and more, settling in for the cold weather.
The dog, Sean, as his masters called him, was inside for most of the day and night now, leaving Crimson and Clover on their own for the winter.
One dark and stormy night, the chickens awoke to a rattling outside their coop. Suddenly three raccoons jumped down from the tree and crashed through the roof of the coop. Clover flapped down from her perch and began clucking for help.
A big raccoon turned and started towards her. She escaped out of the coop, and continued squawking to alert the people. Crimson wasn’t so quick on her feet. The big raccoon jumped up and tucked the chicken under his arm. He signaled to the other raccoons and they disappeared into the night... with Crimson!
