The Little Red Hen by Jerry Pinkney

The Little Red Hen Reviews

• 
  Calista

  I love these books that take a famous fable or fairytale to the page and to readers. I remember this story best from seeing the Silly-Symphony Disney produced.
  
  The Little red Hen has a family and she finds some seeds one day. She tries to build her community, but the others don’t want to work. They keep telling her, no I won’t help you. She does all the work and she enjoys the fruits of her labors. She also doesn’t share them, since no one helped. It’s not a story Jesus would tell, as he would have made it about sharing anyway, most likely. It’s a story about taking care of your family and the value of hard work.
  
  Hen is able to look toward the future. She is able to understand work now can bring something good in the future. She also has more work than anyone else at the moment. She has chicks, young ones and none of the other characters do. She has a heavy load, but she makes it work. It is a story of perseverance. Anyway, I enjoy this little story and the take that Jerry Pickney gives them. I will find some more of his books.
  
  The nephew loved the little yellow chicks. He and his sister have been begging to get a chicken coop in the back, but we aren’t going to do it. He thought the story was a little boring, but he enjoyed seeing the little chicks hop around. He gave this 2 stars.
• 
  M.M. Strawberry Library & Reviews

  An excellent story with a moral we can all learn from - because who of us hasn't dealt with at least one lazy, entitled fuck in their life? - with fantastic and memorable illustrations.
• 
  Shanna Gonzalez

  The Little Red Hen is a tale beloved by generations of children for its pleasing repetition, its humor, and its unsubtle moral at the end. A red hen finds some wheat kernels and, in the face of her friends' refusal to assist, successfully plants it, harvests its crop, takes the wheat to the miller to be ground, and bakes it into bread. Then, when all her lazy friends invite themselves to partake, she eats it herself, thus illustrating (perhaps not very graciously) the lesson of 2 Thessalonians 3:10 that those who do not work should not partake of the benefits of others' work.
  
  Jerry Pinkney has interpreted this old story with extravagant watercolors, fully of careful detail and narrated with cheerful and humorous text. There is even a delightful self-portrait of the artist as the miller, with his paints and sketches tucked away in the corner as he turns from the mill to hand the little red hen her flour. This story is sure to be enjoyed by a preschool and elementary school audience.
• 
  N

  Reading this with
  The Little Red Fort for my younger library classes.
• 
  Maddy Rigsby

  Great book! This is a great book for younger kids or lower elementary age children. This book is great with having adjectives. The little red hen starts by finding some seeds. She asks all of her neighbors in the barn for help making her bread. The pig, the cow, and the rat all say no. So then at the end when the little red hen has the bread made, all of her neighbors want some bread, but because none of them helped her make the bread she doesn't let any of them eat it. This is a good lesson for children that if they want something, they should really help with it. The pictures in this book are also very good and will keep the kids interested.
• 
  April

  This story was one of my favorites as a kid, but this is a newer version with slightly different animals (which made it hard for me to get straight in my head since I wanted to say " 'Not I,' said the duck. 'Not I,' said the cat. 'Not I,' said the pig." In this book we have a goat, rat, dog, and pig).
• 
  Spike's Place

  
  Click here to place a hold at the Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library
• 
  Angelica

  Genre: Traditional Literature/Picture Book
  
  Copyright Date: 2006
  
  This is a good story that shows that you need to do you part if you want to reap the rewards at the end. It can be used to teach students about teamwork. Great illustrations. Grades K-3.
• 
  Goshen PL Childrens

  Read for Storytime, February 15th
  Theme: Fairy Tales
• 
  Kelly

  Nice rendition of this classic tale.
• 
  Karim Elmenshawy

  "I will just have to eat this bread by myself"Doesn't she deserve the same?
• 
  Grace

  
  
  I''ve read and heard about this book numerous times in my life, however this adaption by Jerry Pinkney was amazing! Like other Jerry Pinkney's books, the illustrations were astonishing. They were all very beautiful, very detailed on every page. The part of the book that stood out the most to me was the way how the animals acted throughout the book. I was laughing on how lazy each of the animals were as they said "Not I" as the little red hen asked for help. It was so funny but also annoying that I felt pity toward the little red hen! In the end, it all worked out when the little red hen ate the bread by herself. I believe this book can be used greatly to express the meaning on you need to do something in order to gain something from it. I believe this will always be one of my favorite old stories, and will probably read this story to my future classroom.
• 
  Karen

  Book Title: The Little Red Hen
  Author: Jerry Pinkney
  Reading Level: G
  Book Level:2.1
  
  Book Summary: The traditional story of Little Red Hen doing all the work!
  
  Writing Traits:
  Sentence Fluency-I would use this mentor text with students K-2 to show them how the story builds and repeats. Each page has the repetition of "Not I" from the other farm animals and the repetition of the hen asking animals for help. It also works through the steps needed to harvest wheat for making bread. I would use this and the sentence fluency to help model for students how to work through a how to book.
• 
  Becky B

  A retelling of the Little Red Hen folktale about a hen who finds wheat seeds, plants them, harvests them, and eventually bakes the harvest into bread along the way asking other barnyard animals who would like to help and no one volunteers until it comes time to eat.
  
  I like that the animals are all a different color, and in the text they use that color when talking about them so beginning readers can identify who is who by color. It would make it easy for littles to help read those parts. Pinkney's illustrations are fabulous, and I really like his adaptation of this tale.
• 
  Kelly

  I remember loving a version of this story when I was younger. Why this particular story was a favorite, I'm not really sure. Other than, perhaps, it was a little wise nod to knowing the truth to this story. More often than not, I sure know how Red Hen feels. I found this version by Jerry Pinkney at my library -- the illustrations are lovely, though the adaption is a bit different than the one I remember as a child. I'm now on the search for the original fable written by Mary Mapes Dodge in 1874.
• 
  Felicity

  The Little Red Hen is an amazing book, that is enjoyed by many people of all ages. This book has a great humor to it, and the illustrations are very astonishing and fit well with the words of the book. I really enjoyed how the colors of the animals were the color of the words as this can be a very helpful thing for children who are learning their colors. I have enjoyed this book ever since I was little and still find myself reading it over and over.
• 
  Tammy Manns

  Genre: Traditional Literature/Folktale
  Grade Level: Early Primary/Primary (K-3)
  
  This is a very familiar story about being helpful and being a good friend. The Little Red Hen finds wheat seeds and none of her barnyard friends will help her plant the seeds or help with the cutting and grinding to make flour but everyone wants to eat the delicious bread she bakes! The illustrations are wonderful. Very vibrant colors and a great amount of detail.
• 
  Carrie

  Genre: Traditional Literature
  Grade: K-2
  
  The illustrations in Jerry Pinkney’s version of “The Little Red Hen” were so detailed and the animals all look very realistic. The names of the animals are color coded through out the book which would help children reading the book. It would also creates a great opportunity to connect to adjectives. Overall, the story was well written and illustrations were fantastic.
• 
  Macy

  Title: The Little Red Hen
  Author: Jerry Pinkney
  Illustrator: Jerry Pinkney
  Genre: Folktale, folklore, Juvenile fiction
  Theme(s): Laziness, sticking up for yourself, animals, hard work
  Opening line/sentence:
  Once upon a time a cat and a dog and a mouse and a little red hen all lived together in a cozy little house.
  Brief Book Summary:
  This Folktale is about how a dog, a cat, a mouse, and a hen all live in the same house. Even though there are four of them, the hen always ends up doing all of the cleaning, cooking, and yard work. One day she asked for help planting the wheat, cutting the wheat, grounding the wheat into flour, and making the flour into a cake but none of the other animals would help her. Once the cake was finished, all of the animals were eager to eat the cake but the little red hen ate it all by herself since she did all of the work for it.
  Professional Recommendation/Review #1:
  Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz (Children's Literature)
  A classic is classic; it lasts because it tells a good story. The tale of The Little Red Hen, whom no one will help plant and tend the wheat or bake the bread, has its satisfying conclusion when she and her family sit down to eat the warm bread while the lazy dog, rat, goat, and pig do not. Pinkney tells the tale briskly, in a lively and humorous fashion, with the repetition of the not I that so delights young listeners. From her jacket/cover portrait, in beribboned straw hat and colored shawl, where she supports the arch of the title on her outstretched wings, we can tell we are dealing with a resolute fowl. Another full-page portrait as hen strides into the book replaces the title page and a sweeping view of her world crosses the next two pages. Pinkney s graphite, ink, and watercolor illustrations in his usual detailed, naturalistic style, show us a quartet of lazy creatures in contrast to the almost obsessively active hen and her chicks. The type of the tale turns red for the hen, brown for the short brown dog, gray for the thin gray rat, darker black for the tall black goat, and pink for the round pink pig. Mr. Miller, who grinds the wheat, seems to be a portrait of Pinkney himself joining the story, with his tubes of paint and jars of pens in a corner of the mill. Fun for many sessions of reading and listening with a subtle lesson included. 2006, Dial Books for Young Readers/Penguin Young Readers Group, $16.99. Ages 3 to 7.
  (PUBLISHER: Dial Books for Young Readers (New York:), PUBLISHED: c2006.)
  Professional Recommendation/Review #2:
  CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices, 2007)
  Jerry Pinkney s marvelous watercolor and graphite paintings capture distinctive traits of each featured animal in a new edition of this classic story. The rat is convincingly rat like, the dog convincingly doglike . . . and the pig wallowing in his mud bath is a glorious sight to behold. Yet each creature's face is tempered with expressiveness that makes the animals dialogue and interactions convincing. The narrative also suggests a distinguishing trait for each creature as the hen offers up arguments for assistance. (Rat, for example, will surely help her cut the wheat as You can use your tail to chop it easily. ) In the text, the animals always appear in typeface the same color as their description (e.g., little red hen is in red type). Paints, brushes, and a picture of a little red hen can be spied behind the African American miller who grinds the wheat one more pleasing, teasing element (it s Pinkney himself) in this volume. CCBC Category: Folklore, Mythology, and Traditional Literature. 2006, Dial, 32 pages, $16.99. Ages 3-6.
  (PUBLISHER: Dial Books for Young Readers (New York:), PUBLISHED: c2006.)
  Response to Two Professional Reviews:
  The reviewers only really paid attention to the illustrations and text of the story and not the characterization, the theme, or the plot. Although I agree that the illustrations and text are a crucial parts of the story, I also think it is important to discuss the possible gender roles given to the characters. Also the plot was very simple and to the point, the hen was angry that no one was helping her with the daily chores of the house, the hen stuck up for herself, and then the dog, cat, and mouse started helping out with their share of chores. The theme of sticking up for yourself and hard work pays off is also an important part of this story.
  Evaluation of Literary Elements:
  I think the illustrator did a wonderful job portraying the laziness of the dog, cat, and mouse contrasting the eagerness of the hen. The animals are painted in a way that easily portray the way they are acting and feeling. The author even seemed to put himself in the story as Mr. Miller. The language in this book is humorous and repetitive which makes it a perfect story for young children.
  Consideration of Instructional Application:
  After reading this story to my kindergarteners and 1st graders, I can ask them how this relates to the classroom. From here we can start assigning classroom jobs like erasing the board, line leader, passing out papers, etc. I would get my students excited about doing these things around the classroom because it will make them feel accomplished and happy for working as a community to handle classroom responsibilities.