Chip Chip

A Little Golden Book (#28)

By Norman Wright

Pictures by Nino Carbe
Copyright 1947

Chip Chip the Chipmunk lives in the hollow of a tree with his father and his two brothers, Chap Chap and Chop Chop.  The story opens on a beautiful sunny day, with Chip Chip complaining about the need to sit in the dark school room, learning his one times one and two times two.  The temptation is too much for him, and while Mr. Chipmunk is out of the room, Chip Chip slips away to play outside.  Oh no!  There is a hunter in the woods that day and Chip Chip is very afraid.  Although he spends a whole night cold and frightened, when morning comes he finds a way to outsmart the hunter and chase him out of the woods.  Now all the animals are safe.  Mr. Chipmunk finds his wayward son and after hearing his story, admits pride in little Chip Chip’s bravery. 

This story is attempting to give children the lesson to always pay attention in school because you never know when you’ll need the lessons learned there.  The world is big and scary and school will prepare you to handle it.  “Now that he had seen the dangers of the forest, he wanted to know all he could learn about taking care of himself.  He was always the first one there when it was time for school – and he wrote his lists very neatly, and did his one times on and his two times two, and even his three times three. “

All I could think of while reading this book, though, is how wrong a school system is that forces children to sit at their desks all day long, never getting out into the real world to have practical lessons.  It was Chip Chip, who ventured out into the woods all by himself on that beautiful day, who saved the animals from the hunter.   So shouldn’t the lesson from this story be for Mr. Chipmunk?   Get out of that hole in the tree and show your children how to survive in the real world!