The Little Red Hen Book

Main Characters: Hen, Cat, Dog, and Mouse
Setting: The setting takes place in the animals' cozy little house.

Grade/Interest Level: Primary
Reading Level: 510L
Genre: Traditional Literature

Summary:

The Little Red Hen, written by Paul Galdone, is a story about four animals (Hen, Cat, Dog, and Mouse) living together in a cozy little house. Cat, Dog, and Mouse like to spend their days being lazy and sleeping, which causes Hen to do all of the work around the home. While gardening, Hen asks which of her friends will plant the wheat for her and all three of them respond "Not I", causing Hen to do this task by herself. This process continues on throughout the story as Hen asks the others to do tasks for her, but ends up doing them on her own. In the end, the wheat is used to create a cake that the others are eager to eat, but Hen informs them that she will eat the cake all by herself because she had to do all the work by herself. On top of an enjoyable story, the illustrations of the animals working and sleeping adds to the overall charm of this book.

Classroom Use:

I would like to use this book as a read aloud in a primary classroom. The book sends a good message that you should have to put in some work if you want the rewards. I would like to discuss with my students if they take the side of Hen or if they think she is being unfair by not sharing the cake, which I think could lead to an interesting and important conversation about fairness and helping others.