Ladybird

Book 175 - Retold by Ronnie Randall - The Little Red Hen

I know…I know… I can guess…seriously ? ‘The Little Red Hen’ ? Yes and you know what there is so much to learn from this wee book. For those who don’t remember it is the story of a hen finds some corn…plants it…grows it…mills it and makes some bread…all while a cat…a rat and a pig watch. The hen asks if they will help at every step…and they are all too busy…but all watch and eagerly await the finished show more bread…which the hen doesn’t share but instead eats it herself.

Now on one level it is simply a story about a hen making bread.

However so many other levels…it is a story about selfishness…about those who look for the shortcut…about sitting on the sidelines…about passive bullying and indeed about those who simply let others do all the work.

Getting so much from such a little book….wellbeing and sometimes how it is ok to simply look after yourself is its core message.

Always remember…it is ok to look after yourself…have some ‘me’ time this week. show less

A lot of skipping rhymes, but very few that I had heard before. I jumped rope in Santa Monica, California when skipping was still in its heyday in the early 60s and there were rhymes that 2nd and 3rd graders did, and rhymes that the older kids would let you do when you got into 4th and 5th grade, a whole gradation of them; rhymes you jumped to, rhymes you clapped patterns to, and rhymes you just chanted. Then, I moved to Wisconsin and jumped to the big girl rhymes there; 7th and 8th grade show more girls still skipped rope in the late 60s. My daughter growing up in Toronto in the 80s had her own set of rhymes. But there are only two rhymes in the book I've ever heard (and we always said eensy ainsy over, not eevy ivy; and our teddy bear spelled GOOD NIGHT, so neither was exactly the same), so I have to assume these are all from England. The book also includes a section on French Skipping, the elastic loop rope tricks that we called Chinese Jump Rope, with diagrams to learn some of the steps, as well as music for the skipping rhymes. show less

love this book! i had the Hans Christian Andersen story of little mermaid read to me as a child but when i came to CANADA i just couldnt find it anymore. Disney just distorted the story too much. when i found this book i was in heaven. yes, its a sad ending and yes its not all peachy-they-lived-happily-ever-after, but its a fairy tale world, where mermaids live and talk, and witches make spells and potions, and people dont often figure well into those stories.

illustrations are beautiful and show more the story stays true to the original fairytale. this book is a treasure to have for anyone looking for originals. show less

My child enjoyed this version as it was exciting. All I saw was Jack being daft enough to be conned, then ignored his mum to climb the beanstalk, trespassed in the castle, stole from the giant (3 times) killed the giant leaving a giant widow - then they lived happily ever after as they were rich. I'm still looking for the moral in the tale! At least my son liked it.