I LOVE the finished piece - the lighting is awesome and it reads well - I love the flow, the way you take in the group of kids oohing and awwing over the baby chicks, to the girl feeding chickens and hearing the commotion, to the boy laughing at his classmate, to finally, the comedy of the boy getting chased by the chicken. The storytelling is wonderful, and I think this piece leads the eye to read it in levels in a great way.
The sketch is great too, it also gives your eye a direction and flow. I agree with the poster who said the character in the bottom left may be leading the eye off the page a little, but that may be the way the cookie jar is cropped. I would be curious to see what the character in the middle behind the teacher is looking at (is the stove boiling over?) Would love to see it when it's finished!