The Little Red Hen

Pinkney, Jerry. 2006. THE LITTLE RED HEN. New York: Penguin. ISBN 0803729359 [Suggested Grade Levels PreK-3]

REVIEW
When the little red hen finds some strange seeds, she scoops them up and takes them home. Learning the seeds are wheat seeds, the little red hen plants them. Before she does this though, she asks the other animals, the short brown dog, the thin gray rat, the tall black goat, and the round pink pig, if they will help her. All of the animals decline to help with a “Not I.” The little red hen attends the seeds, harvests the wheat, and takes the grain to the mill, each time asking the animals for help and being rejected. “A very busy hen was she!”

In this classic telling of THE LITTLE RED HEN, the Golden Rule message rings as loudly as ever. What gives this story a freshness are the beautiful illustrations. Five-time Caldecott Honor winner Jerry Pinkney delivers another book with page after page of intricately detailed drawings that bring the story to life. With graphite, ink, and watercolor, THE LITTLE RED HEN is a “joy of joys.”

CONNECTIONS
Find a recipe that has enough ingredients as there are children in the group. Have each child help by adding an ingredient. Use lines from the book such as “Who will help me…?” When the product is made, each helper will be rewarded for his/her willingness to help.

RELATED BOOKS
Other books illustrated by Jerry Pinkney:
Anderson, Hans Christian. THE UGLY DUCKLING. ISBN 068815932X
Flournoy, Valerie. THE PATCHWORK QUILT. ISBN 0803700970
Lester, Julius. JOHN HENRY. ISBN 0803716060


By Mary D. Buckalo