The Red Hen

by Rebecca Emberley, Ed Emberley (Illustrator)

In this sparkling version of a classic tale, Red Hen finds a recipe for a Simply Splendid Cake and asks her friends the cat, the rat, and the frog to help with the preparations. But it seems as though her friends want no part in the cake until it's ready to eat. Will they decide to pitch in, or let Red Hen do all of the hard work?

Genres: Picture Books, Storytime, Animals, Childrens, Food, Fiction, Folk Tales

32 pages, Hardcover

First published October 26, 2010

Reviews

[Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

The classic story of "The Little Red Hen" gets an update in The Red Hen, and the little red hen bakes a cake instead of a loaf of bread presumably because modern children probably don't know what threshing or milling is and wouldn't understand why someone would go through the trouble to bake a loaf of bread rather than buying one at the grocery store.

So instead of:
"Who will help me plant the wheat?" "Not I. Not I. Not I." "Then I'll do it myself."
"Who will help me cut the wheat?" "Not I. Not I. Not I." "Then I'll do it myself."
"Who will help me thresh the wheat?" "Not I. Not I. Not I." "Then I'll do it myself."
"Who will help me carry the wheat to the mill?" "Not I. Not I. Not I." "Then I'll do it myself."
"Who will help me bake the bread?" "Not I. Not I. Not I." "Then I'll do it myself."
"Who Will help me eat the bread?" "I will. I will. I will." "No, I will do it myself."

The Story goes:
"Who will help me gather the ingredients?" "Not I. Not I. Not I." "Then I'll do it myself."
"Who will help me mix the cake?" "Not I. Not I. Not I." "Then I'll do it myself."
"Who will help me bake the cake?" "Not I. Not I. Not I." "Then I'll do it myself."
"Who will help me ice the cake?" "Not I. Not I. Not I." "Then I'll do it myself."
"Who will help me decorate the cake?" "Not I. Not I. Not I." "Then I'll do it myself."
"Who will help me eat the cake?" "I will. I will. I will." "No, I'll do it myself."


Brilliant illustrations accompany simple text. A cake recipe is even included.

[The Library Lady · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun for the artwork, otherwise nothing new here except for a frog taking the place of the usual mouse. If you're an Emberly fan, fine, but there are nicer versions by Byron Barton, Paul Galdone and a host of others. And Heather Forrest's telling on her recording "Sing Me A Story" has loads of young child appeal.

[Allison Parker · Rating 3 out of 5]

The classic tale gets a jolt of new energy with Emberley's signature vivid colors and zany eyes. The fun illustrations will make this a good choice for sharing this book in storytime. The story's phrasing is changed just a bit with a frog that says "Ribbit" instead of "Not I"; I could have used a little bit more of a twist in the storytelling. Still, a worthy retelling.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

I adore the Emberley's illustrations and their take on the Little Red Hen story is fine, but I find I prefer and ending in which the Hen finds a way to share what she makes and the animals find a way to help - as in Philemon Sturges' Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza. This just ended with an "and she did."

[Suzanne Lorraine Kunz Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe, it's just me, but I don't like the look of these books. The psychedelic eyes of the animals just created a disharmony for me and didn't make reading the book a pleasant experience. I'd think I'd prefer much more peaceful pictures for the book. Other than that it was a fine retelling of the classic story.

** Talking Points: When you need help do others generally tend to help you? Who are generally the helpers in your life? Who are those that generally don't help? How do you feel when others help you? How do you feel when other people don't help you? How good are you at looking for people in need and helping them?

** Essential Oil Pairing Tip: I'd diffuse doTERRA's Forgive essential oil blend when reading this book. I think it's hard when no one wants to help Red Hen. It could make her feel unloved. It could make her feel resentful. It could make her feel angry. It could make her feel sad. Being human, sometimes we all have those emotions and the Forgive blend can help us release all of that.

[Destiny Cowsert · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Red Hen is about a hen who wants to make a cake with her friends, she continues to ask them for help with the cake and they continue to say no so the Hen does it herself. In the end when the cakes is all done she ask if they all want some of the cake, they all said yes, but the Hen decides to eat the cake by herself since she made the cake by herself and none of her friends wanted to help her. The Theme of this book is similar to that of the little red hen which is aimed towards a larger age group. The Hen in that story finds a grain of rice and ask for help from all of the other barn animals and they all refuse to help the Hen. Same with this book the Hen prepares the rice alone an decides to eat all of it with her chicks leaving none for the rest of the animals since they didn't want to help. Overall this book is pretty good however, i prefer the original one with the hen and thee grain of rice.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It's about a hen that is making a cake and keeps asking her friends if they want to help with each step and every time they say no. The art of this book is pretty cool. Very bold colors and crazy fun shapes. There's a lot of repetition, but it works and I didn't find it annoying at all.

SPOLIERS AHEAD:

At the end she asks if they want to eat some and they all say yes, but she ends up eating it herself because she did all the work and they did nothing. I think it's a great book on how it shows hard work pays off and you can't get anything if you don't at least help a little bit.

[Lara · Rating 3 out of 5]

2+ rounded up. Not a favorite classic fable/fairy tale and not a favorite adaptation of it, but it is still a simple story about doing your part vs being entitled. The pictures are bright and clear, but a little chaotic for my personal tastes. Not a first choice for a storytime, but there are nice repetitive aspects to the story which will make for good audience participation. So, not a first choice, but not a bad one either. Can see using it as an addition to a storytime on food, farm animals, sharing...

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Little Red Hen has been a favorite childrens story of mine since I was a little girl. There didn't need to be a remake of that story, it was perfect the way it was. So instead of baking bread from scratch this red hen made a cake. And it even had a recipe at the back of the book. One other thing, at the end of The Little Red Hen she shares the bread with her babies. Not so in this story. The pictures show the little ones with her but they aren't in the story.

[Ali Book&Seaglasshunter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eye catching illustrations accompany this version of the classic tale. Red Hen wishes to back a cake and is denied help by Cat, Rat, and Frog. I thing too exciting or different from the other iterations of the story beyond the illustrations.

[Jacqi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story about the red hen that works hard to bake a cake, but when she asks her friends the rat, the cat and the frog to help, they say no. So when it’s time to eat the cake, everyone wants some, but the red hen did all the work so she ate all the cake.

[Kristen Dutkiewicz · Rating 3 out of 5]

The classic story of the Little Red Hen brought to life again with fun illustrations.

[Dawn · Rating 2 out of 5]

If she is doing everything herself then why do the little black birds help out?

[Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

We read this book and talked about cooperation then we baked the cake together. It was fun and the cake was tasty.

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really colorful version of a classic tale.

[Cara Byrne · Rating 2 out of 5]

A classic tale with abstract and eye-catching illustrations. A Scholastic Learn-At-Home PreK Book.

[Karin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quarantine reading. Kiddo has decided the little red hen is one of her favourites. This was a new version for us and it was nice to have a bit of variety in animals and baking.

[Sofia Contreras]

Hen teaches his companions a lesson about teamwork and lending a helping hand.

[Torie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book reminded me of high school lol . Every time there was a party everybody wanted a ride, but nobody wanted to help with gas money lol .

[Katarina Carpenter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book to teach about the importance of helping others!

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

A perfectly serviceable retelling of the Little Red Hen. The illustrations give it the extra oomph.

[Sarah Beaver]

Friends, baking, and hard working

[KaitandMaddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kait read this one to me, with only a little help. She’s really progressed a lot this year in French reading.

[Mandy Robek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun spin on this tale.

[Amanda Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a big fan of this fable, but the art in this version is amazing.

[Alexis Thomas]

kindness

[Shayla Satchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hen asks for help with cake but nobody helps. So she makes it herself. Doesnt share at the end

[Cherese · Rating 2 out of 5]

The illustrations were a bit too abstract for the kids and me too tbh. I also didn't care for the frog. It worked in a pinch but I had to adlib to fill out the story

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the art style of the illustrations in this interpretation of the red hen baking a cake and nobody helping her. I loved the colors and the jagged edges.

[Lillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really liked the illustrations