With Love, Little Red Hen

Dear Peter Rabbit #3

by Alma Flor Ada

Hidden Forest has a new resident. Little Red Hen and her seven little chicks have moved into a cottage and plan to grow a bountiful crop of corn in the nearby field. The problem is that none of the Red Hen's neighbors are willing to help with the hard work. "Not I," says the dog, the goose, and the lazy cat. So Goldilocks, who has heard about the new arrivals from her friend Little Red Riding Hood, comes up with a neighborly Why don't all the residents of Hidden Forest chip in and work on the garden? Better yet, why not make it a surprise? Of course there are a couple of residents who might not be so cooperative. Will Wolfy Lupus and his cousin Fer O'Cious hatch a new plot of their own?
Following the highly acclaimed Dear Peter Rabbit and Yours Truly, Goldilocks, Alma Flor Ada and Leslie Tryon offer young readers another peek into the world of their favorite storybook characters, revealed through the charming letters they write to one another.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fairy Tales, Animals, Fantasy, Retellings

40 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

(http://facebook.com/almaflorada)

Dr. Ada was the founder and First Editor in Chief of :
NABE, Journal of the National Association for Bilingual Education

She has been active for many years in various professional associations including : IRA, International Reading Association
CRA, California Reading Association
CABE, California Association for Bilingual Education
USIBBY, US Branch of the International Board of Books for Young People

She is a member of :
Advisory Board of Loose Leaf Public Radio Programs
National Television Workshop
Between the Lines
Reading Up!, Natural Head Start Association

A frequent speaker at national and international conferences, Dr. Ada also works in school districts with children, teachers and parents.

The award-winning author of numerous children’s books and a prolific translator, Alma Flor Ada is a leading mentor and philosopher of bilingual education in the United States.

She has authored several reading programs, among them two Spanish reading programs :
Cielo abierto (K-6)
Vamos de fiesta! (K-3)

and of two English reading programs :
Signatures (K-6)
Collections (K- 6)

and is a series consultant for Relatos de la historia (1-5), a Spanish social studies program developed by Harcourt School Publishers.

Among her most substantive contributions to the transmission of Hispanic culture to children are :
Música amiga, a program for learning through songs, published by Del Sol Books
Puertas al Sol - Pathways to the Sun, published by Santillana
Latino poetry, Art, and Biographies for children, published by Santillana

Dr. Ada received her Ph.D. in Spanish Literature from the Pontifical Catholic University of Lima, Perú and did post-doctoral research at Harvard University as a Fellow of the Radcliffe Institute and a Fulbright Research Scholar.

Reviews

[Marcelaine · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought it was stretching it quite a bit to have a story with the three little pigs, goldilocks and the three bears, the little red hen, little red riding hood, some wolves, and especially Peter Rabbit. The book is written in letter format, which is annoying for reading aloud. The actual story might have been good if written in a different format, but as it is I read it to my kids twice and refused to read it again because I couldn't stand reading it aloud.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

We had read "Yours Truly, Goldilocks" a couple weeks ago and really enjoyed it. So when I saw there was a sequel, I had to grab it. My library doesn't actually have the first book in the series, "Dear Peter Rabbit" - bummer.

This book was just as good as the first one. I love the format of these books. They're so unique. The author is able to tell a story through letters and pictures. While there are a lot of words on the page which makes it a little too long for my 2 year old, I know she'll really enjoy these when she's a little older.

I was thinking that the letters weren't quite setting up the big ending very well, but I loved the little twist that the cat had omitted some truth from them about the rabbits and Mother Bear being at the picnic too. And I love that the big climax to the story is told just in picture form. I like that I can ask my daughter what she believes is going on in the picture.

I really enjoy these books and will definitely grab them more often from the library, and I wouldn't mind having them in our own library at home!

[Erin Banet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book that incorporates so many fairy tales. Great for making predictions.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extra star because of how much Jolly Postman-era Shannon would have adored this book.

[Joey Zadina · Rating 5 out of 5]

With Love, Little Red Hen is an incredible book that is layered with characters that we all know and love such as: Goldilocks, Peter Rabbit, Little Red Riding Hood, and the bad wolves just to name a few. This book takes a spin on old tales and uses the characters and story lines in order to create a new and innovative way to follow the lives of the old time characters. Alma Flor Ada is so innovative and creative to use letters that go from character to character in order to tell the story. This way of telling the story gives the reader a view point from every single character in the book at some point. We see the wolves writing letters to one another about killing their prey while the next page is the hens writing letters back and forth about outsmarting the wolves. It is very interesting and is sure to keep the pages turning for adults and children alike! This is absolutely a read aloud book for grades 2-3, but there are many other ways that this book can be used in the classroom. One of the most important and obvious reasons for using this book would be to use it as an introduction to a letter-writing unit. The letters between the characters are set up like real letters and provide great models for students to use and follow. Aside from using the letters in the book to show students the technical format of a hand-written letter, the letters can also be used to explain to students the significance of a hand-written letter. As if the letter aspect of this book is not reason enough to read it to a classroom, the lessons in the book are amazing and promote community and lending a helping hand, such as when they all come together to help the mother hen and expected no recognition or anything in return. This is a great book and definitely one that I will keep around my classroom for many years to come!

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was written in letters, letters as in Dear Goldi. This is a different twist completely to the story of The Little Red Hen. All of our favorite storytime characters, Little Red Riding Hood, Hetty Hen, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Fer O'Cious the wolf and many more all come together in this story of the lost art of letter writing. Very clever. The story remains the same as far as the lazy old dog, cat and goose not helping Little Red Hen plant her garden. Her many friends pitch in and get the job done though. Her chicks are adorable. Even Peter Rabbit makes an appearance. The book includes a Hidden Forest Directory which is very cute. The Pigs: Pig One, Pig Two, Pig Three: Brick House, Woodsy Woods. Temprarily: Pig One Straw House. Grandma Rose Redding: Cottage in the Woods, Hidden Forest. The illustrations were very detailed and the letters were funny to say the least. I loved the one, from Wolfy. "Come immediately. Hen captured. Let's party tonight. She's a plump, heavy one. Save your appetite." Wolfy. Funny stuff. Kids of all ages will love this story to see how things can always change. There are a lot of words so I do not recommend this book for children with short attention spans.

[Devi Henn]

This story was so cute! It is laid out in letter format. It talks about how a Hen and her chicks come to town and she asks for help with her garden, but no one wants to help her because she is new. Eventually she does get help and invites everyone over in celebration of having a successful garden. A theme that I got from this book was helping new neighbors without having to ask or get anything in return, and that is what good friends do.
This could tie into the classroom with literacy. Students could learn the format of how to write a proper letter and then send them to whomever they wanted. They could also send letters to different characters from the book and ask them different questions in regards to the book.

[Melanie, Aaron, Annie, and Mary Project · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read by: Annie
Author: Alma Flor Ada Illustrator: Leslie Tyron
Genre: Traditional Literature
Interest Level: K-2
Grade Level Equivalent: 3.5

Told through a series of letters between some popular fairy tale characters, this is the story of how Little Red Hen was secretly helped by Goldilocks, Little Red Riding Hood, and Peter Rabbit to care for her cornfield, while they were all also being hunted by two wolves! It contains great vocabulary and contains lessons about cooperation and helping others. Also good lesson tie-in if you are learning to write letters to friends.

[James Potts · Rating 4 out of 5]

"With Love, Little Red Hen", by Alma Flor Ada, was an amazing book! I loved every second of reading this book! I would say though, this book is more of a longer short story book. I would recommend for a new reader reading on their own. It can be very easy to loose track of where you are at in the story. I love that this whole story is set up in letter formation between two friends in the wilderness. This would be an amazing book for a student or child that likes animals. It is a very well written book and the illustrations are by far the best I have ever seen in a children's book!

[Sharlene Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author cleverly connects the lives of unrelated fairy tale characters using letters.
This book can be used when teaching a lesson on writing letters. It can also be used when teaching critical practices.

[Jennifer Ho · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book because it has all the fairy tale characters children would know such as Goldilocks, Little Red Riding Hood, the Wolf, and Peter Rabbit. Also, the book is told and written in letter form so this would be good to introduce children to writing letters.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a cute way to introduce and review letters with children. They have letters from the hen, Goldilocks, and the big Bad Wolf. Characters that most of the children should be familar with. It had good illustrations and it showed the proper way to write and address letters.

[Miss Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

GR Level: N

Elementary: E ADA

Read letters written to and from fairy tale characters such as Goldilocks, Little Red Hen, Wolves, and Little Red Riding Hood. If you like this book see also Dear Peter Rabbit (have) and Yours Truly, Goldilocks (don't have)

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read letters written to and from fairy tale characters such as Goldilocks, Little Red Hen, Wolves, and Little Red Riding Hood. If you like this book see also Dear Peter Rabbit and Yours Truly, Goldilocks. Great for teaching what a friendly letter should look like.

[Paula · Rating 2 out of 5]

A series of letters describe the actions of Goldilocks, Peter Rabbit, the Three Pigs, Little Red Hen, and other storybook characters when Little Red Hen and her chicks become the target of the unsavory Wolf and his cousin, Fer O'Cious.

[Desiree Kulewsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was cute because every page there was a different letter from characters such as goldilocks, little red hen, little red riding hood, wofly and more. The only thing that i didnt like was that it dragged on a bit. Too many letters.

[Suburban Homeschooler · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's funny… This is a picture book so you would think it is for a younger crowd, but each page has a full length letter written on it so it is quite long --definitely for the uppermost elementary grades I think.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book and thought it was clever, but I am confused about the target audience. The illustrations, including the one on the cover, skew toward lower elementary, but the writing is far more sophisticated and skews toward mid to upper elementary.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This picture book is a series of letters between the Little Red Hen, Goldilocks, and various other characters from fairy tales. Probably of interest to older readers.

[Teresa Garrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sequel to Yours truly, Goldilocks. Another great mentor text to teach letter writing. Good way to review fairy tales with older students.

[Angie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book! I love the illustrations, I love the letters, I love the inter-mingling of characters from other stories...I love everything about this book!

[Alice]

familiar fairy tale characters

[M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super cute. This is kind of in the same vein as "Into the Woods" where it combines and overlaps a few different children's stories. I wan this one for my collection.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like stories that are told through letter writing.

[Dotty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely exchange of letters. And it was chicken focused, always a winner :-)

[Beka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kurt thought it got a bit boring with all the letters back and forth and nothing else.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Letters to and from different fable characters.

[Noell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the idea of this story being told through the use of letters to familiar storybook characters; however, it may make it difficult for little ones to follow.

[Dareen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect mentor text for writing letters.

[Nichole · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is also good for letter writing and drawing conclusions lessons.