The Little Red Hen

by Barry Downard (Illustrator)

"Not I," said the duck. "Not I," said the pig.

"Not I," said the cat.

Genres: Picture Books, Fiction, Childrens, Juvenile, Storytime

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 2, 2004

Reviews

[Goshen PL Childrens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read at Storytime on June 2, 2021
Theme: Fairytale, Fabled, and Folktale Animal Stories

[Suzanne Brandt · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Little Red Hen, a traditional literature piece that is relatable to everyone who has ever done all the work and then suddenly once all the work is done everyone wants a piece of the finished product. With traditional literature such as this students can do a writing piece on comparing and contrasting of two different Little Red Hen books. As a mentor text students will be able to use this book as choosing a topic that you can teach your audience. Students will be able to see that this author involved a lesson to be learned in his writing and can incorporate that into their own writing. Ask your students, what lesson do you plan to teach your reader? Have them brainstorm some ideas as a class and then they can choose which one to write about.
Grade Level: 2
Reading Level: 2.6
Guided Reading Level: L

[Hilary · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found myself seeking out the cat, and I'm certain each reader will have a favorite character. Clever pictures!

[Ashleigh Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has a good lesson that showcases the result of not participating in putting effort in to help with something. In this book, Hen asks for the other animal's help in each step when baking bread, and none of them want to help. As a result of this, Hen decided that none of them should be able to eat the bread because noone helped her, she did it all alone. I don't think the book emphasizes HOW Hen being the only one eating the bread at the end is a result of the other animals not helping The Little Red Hen enough for children to clearly understand how those two are connected.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Story Time

Theme: The Color Red

Ages: Virtual


It's the traditional story of The Little Red Hen: LRH grows wheat to turn into bread, asks for help and 3 animals say no until it's time to eat the bread.

I love the photo-realistic pictures in this book, they are just too cute.

[Elizabeth Thigpen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This would be a good source to use to show students that working hard pays off and that if you take the time you will feel proud of yourself in the end.

[Karim Elmenshawy · Rating 3 out of 5]

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

[Mildred Stewart (EDUC378) · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Little Red Hen is a good Text to Self Connection. The setting is on a farm and the conflict within the plot is character vs character. The lesson it would be great for is community with the specifics on cooperation. In addition, teaching the golden rule about ones actions offsets consequences. Also a great introduction to food and nutrition by the items discussed in the story and where they fit in our food group model and what other meals we can make from the items presented.

[Shannon · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a great, classic tale, but the illustrations ruined it for me.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a fable that depicts a story about a little red hen that wants help from his friends the duck, the pig, and the cat. However, every time the little red hen asks for help from his friends, they refuse to help her out. So the little red hen does all the chores to make the bread herself. Once the little red hen prepared the bread she asks her friends if they want to eat it and they all say yes. But the little red hen said he would not share because they did not help him with anything and so they cannot eat anything. This book has a wonderful moral to the story.

Teaching ideas:

1) Have the students write an essay describing what would they have done if they were the little red hen. The students will need to explain why they think their particular way. This would be a great activity at the end of the story.

2) The teacher should place the students in small groups and have them reenact the story to the whole class. The teacher needs to make sure everyone in the group has a part. This can help the children understand the importance of voice in a story.

[Dianna · Rating 2 out of 5]

The illustrations here are just not my cup of tea. I found them unattractive and hard to follow, and the text often didn't match up with the illustrations very well. While the retelling is certainly serviceable, I've seen ones I liked better—like the Golden Book version, which I found perfectly consistent, and which skips the annoying moralizing at the end. I like my kids to draw their own conclusions!

[Janet Chen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everyone ends up knowing the lines to this book, Not I said the pig! I love it, its great to teach many lessons from such as being helpful, being fair, how to follow steps for a recipe, and even about how to be a good friend. I did a story box with this book and it was so easy to get the puppets and the lines were easy to remember. I would read this story to grades prek to second probably and even third if i was talking about following steps. This version had great illustrations also.

[Jennie]

Age: 3-6

Genre: Folktale/traditional tale

Diversity: work ethic

Illustrations: A mix of drawings incorporating artifacts of everyday life. A cat wearing headphones, a pig in sunglasses, a duck playing checkers. Modern and fun.

Personal response: A retelling of the original tale with modern illustrations. A fun read with a simple message.

Curriculum: This story could be used in conjunction with a lesson on sharing and responsibility as an example of why people should work together.

[John]

This traditional tale of The Little Red Hen is filled with unique photos constructed of collage materials, including playing cards, eyeglasses, and bicycles just to name a few. The creatively non-traditional story is the classic tale with a touch of modern thrown in. If the reader enjoyed the classic, they are in for a treat upon reading this gem. The vocabulary is within reach of beginner readers as well.

[Analee · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best little red hen book I've seen. The illustrations are hillarious. My daughter will ask for this over and over. We make all the actions and I always have to say, "then I will do it myself, with Afton."

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A hilarious take on a classic story. I love the picture of them playing cards and of the little red hen on the bicycle. We probably spent more time looking and commenting on the pictures than on the story itself, as we've all heard it before. We really enjoyed reading this book together.

[Private Account · Rating 2 out of 5]

-There are more entertaining versions of this story.
-I don't even care for the moral all that much, what a passive aggressive brat this hen is--as in--this book does not teach children to assert their needs and communicate their needs clearly.

[Rachelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are dozens of versions of The Little Red Hen. Why should you choose this version over the others? The illustrations! The Little Red Hen wears snazzy blue glasses and her friends play cards, shoot pool, and watch Hairy Trotter on television. It's such a fun book.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

A classic story with contemporary photographic illustrations.

[MissInformation · Rating 4 out of 5]

weirdly illustrated but good tellilng of the classic. Simple and repetitive. Godd for Story Time.

[wildct2003 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Traditional story, cute pictures.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read by Benedict Cumberbatch. Enough said. *le sigh*

[Teri · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not your 5-star version either, although the pictures are humorous.

[Michelle Gray · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is pretty standard but the illustrations are this strange photo/photoshopped scenes of animals that is a little weird.

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

farm animals, responsibility, working together

[Lacie Labbe]

this is my favorite book because it is the first book that I got to read all on my own. I love the story it is really cute and funny.