Alison Murray (1)

The initial description I saw of this, as an environmentally-conscious version of the Little Red Hen, did not particularly attract me. Also, I have the greatest dislike for versions of this tale that don't include any kind of punishment (or redemption) for the lazy animals, just the hen sharing the fruits of her labor with them after they did nothing. Ahem. I feel strongly about this. However, I do like Alison Murray's clean lines and simple texts, which make great toddler storytime choices, show more and I was willing to try it. And I did like it!

In a fruitful, green apple orchard lives a little green hen, in a snug house in the hollow of an apple tree. She takes care of the orchard, but it's a lot of work and she needs some help! She sets out to find help and gets very different responses from the different animals. Fox, rabbit, and peacock are too busy sleeping, admiring themselves, and thinking about a tasty chicken dinner to help but dog, squirrel, and sparrow are exactly suited and happy to join in the work. Sparrow eats bugs, dog fetches sticks and helps with the pruning, and squirrel is good at burying and planting.

Then comes a flood. The three lazy and self-centered animals, stranded on a log, manage to make it to Little Green Hen's tree and her friends and she take them in. When the flood waters recede and she wonders who will help clean up the mess, this time ALL the animals respond and they all work together to care for and grow the apple orchard. In turn, the orchard provides them with a safe home, food, and everything they need for their families.

This update of the traditional story shows the lazy animals redeeming themselves by working hard to clean up the mess of the flood. While the Little Green Hen and her friends take them in without any assurance that they will help, they repay their generosity. Bright, colorful pictures emphasize the greens and reds of the story and add to the original moral of the tale a theme of cooperation and kindness.

Verdict: Although this may feel too text-heavy for toddlers, it would be easy to abridge during storytime. Also, even younger children will sit for repetition and this has a nice steady repetition from the original story. A strong addition to folktales for storytime. show less

British author/artist Alison Murray adapts the classic folktale about The Little Red Hen in this ecological fable. The eponymous Little Green Hen here cares for her apple tree, eventually planting an orchard all around it. She asks the other animals for help, and Dog, Squirrel and Sparrow agree to aid her, while Cat, Peacock and Fox do not. When a terrible flood comes, and the latter three animals are made homeless, the Little Green Hen welcomes them into her warm, dry home in the apple show more tree. After that, everyone pitches in to care for the orchard, which provides them with everything they need, even preventing future floods...

Having never been overly fond of The Little Red Hen, which always smacked to me of a certain kind of moral smugness and lack of compassion, in its refusal to allow the hen's lazy friends to make reparations, I tend to find revisionist takes of the tale more appealing than traditional ones. It's rather ironic, as I usually prefer the original, when it comes to folk and fairy-tales. However that may be, I found The Little Green Hen a solidly engaging picture-book, one with a good message about environmental stewardship and working as a community. I don't know that it made a terribly strong impression on me - the artwork is pleasant but unremarkable, the story engaging but not terribly involving - but overall I enjoyed it. Recommended to those looking for revisionist takes on classic stories, particularly when those revisions work to create an ecological message. show less

A short, counting, rhyming read-aloud. A girl's dog runs off with one of her shoes, and they pass increasing numbers of objects on their chase (my favorite is when they run behind pieces of laundry on a line and we see them silhouetted). When the dog scatters some chicks, the mama hens charge; the girl shoos them off, and girl, dog, and shoes return home.

Perfect for a "book break" during Rhyme Time.

A little girl's mommy calls her "little mouse," but the girl lists all the ways she's not like a little mouse...until bedtime, when she's cozy and dozy and ready to be mommy's little mouse again.