The Little Red Hen Book

I read this book as a child and have remembered it since due to the simple yet powerful message it portrays. The tale is set in a farmyard and is based on a hen and the other farmyard animals which surround her. One day the little red hen finds a grain of wheat and asks the other farmyard animals to help her with the various processes involved in growing it like the planting, harvesting and threshing of the grain and then the milling the wheat into flour and baking of the flour into bread. However each time she asks one of the animals for some help with the process they decline and the little hen receives no assistance. Eventually the little red hen sees the product of her process complete in that the bread is freshly baked and ready to eat. The little red hen then asks the other farmyard animals who will help her to eat her bread and all the previous non-participants volunteer. The little red hen declines their help in this task and eats it with her chicks leaving none for anyone else. This story shows the hen teaching the other animals a lesson in that its moral is that those who show no willingness to contribute to a product do not deserve to enjoy the product.

I enjoyed this book as I thought it was interesting seeing the process in relation to how bread is baked. I also enjoyed the imaginative farmyard setting and the dynamics and relationships which are created between the farmyard animals. I would recommend this book for reception and Year 1 and Year 2. I think it would be a useful resource to use in order to teach children about the importance of group work and helping others. It teaches children not to be selfish and greedy and shows them how they can receive rewards if they help out in the process of something. I think it teaches a very important life lesson in a simplistic, light-hearted and fun way.