The Little Red Hen (Makes a Pizza)
Retold by: Philemon Sturges
Illustrated by: Amy Walrod
Published in 1999 by Scholastic, Inc. in NY
Genre: Traditional Literature: Post-Modern Tale, Fable
Ages: Grades K-2
Summary: In this modern version of the traditional tale of The Little Red Hen, the hen is hungry again after she finishes her bread and decides she wants a pizza. She is missing some ingredients, so she has to go to the store, but she cannot get any of her friends to go with her. When she returns to make the pizza, she asks again if anyone will help, but they all refuse. When the pizza comes out of the oven, she realizes that it is huge and she will need some others to help her eat it, so she asks her friends to join her and they accept. Unlike in the traditional tale, she does let them eat with her, but when she asked if the would help her with the dishes, they did!
Response: It was nice to have a better ending to the story than to the traditional tale. I always felt a little sorry for the animals who did not get to eat the bread even though they got what they deserved since they did not help the hen. Still, I was surprised that the animals helped her with the dishes in the end! It teaches the lesson that give and take is a big part of the world and we should help one another.
There are many similarities and differences between this book and the original. The hen is present in both, and her friends never seem to want to help, but are always ready to eat. Some differences include: the food the hen is making, the humor in the book with the addition of "and...some other stuff" on many pages when the author does not want to list everything the hen bought or did, the illustrations, and the animals that her friends are.
The illustrations in this work are cut-paper collage. Amy Walrod does a wonderful job making her illustrations look 3-D bu layering the pieces of paper. She uses many different colors to make her illustrations very interesting. She also utilizes a vast amount of detail work that makes readers want to remain on the page long after the words have been read. She takes the time to put colorful lids on jars, spokes on wheels, and words on jars. She even makes the main character look unique. I had to look at the book carefully several times before I found that the little red hen only has eyelashes on her right eye! Her picture is throughout this work numerous times and yet I had to really look carefully to find these small details! Many of these illustrations are double-page spreads that create a great flow through the work.
The text in this book creates suspense because on one page it will ask the audience to ponder how the animals will respond to the little red hen's request for help. This is also very interesting at the end of the book, when the answer has always been that the others will not help and they decide to take part in finally helping the hen. I think that will really stay in the memories of students because of the surprising ending!
Teaching Connections: I think that the project we are doing for my World Literature for Children class would also be a great idea to do with children. Teachers could use a traditional fairytale and a modern version of it, make the shape of something in each book, and use those pictures as the Venn Diagram to compare and contrast the two stories. (Please refer to the picture in the above post.)
Retold by: Philemon Sturges
Illustrated by: Amy Walrod
Published in 1999 by Scholastic, Inc. in NY
Genre: Traditional Literature: Post-Modern Tale, Fable
Ages: Grades K-2
Summary: In this modern version of the traditional tale of The Little Red Hen, the hen is hungry again after she finishes her bread and decides she wants a pizza. She is missing some ingredients, so she has to go to the store, but she cannot get any of her friends to go with her. When she returns to make the pizza, she asks again if anyone will help, but they all refuse. When the pizza comes out of the oven, she realizes that it is huge and she will need some others to help her eat it, so she asks her friends to join her and they accept. Unlike in the traditional tale, she does let them eat with her, but when she asked if the would help her with the dishes, they did!
Response: It was nice to have a better ending to the story than to the traditional tale. I always felt a little sorry for the animals who did not get to eat the bread even though they got what they deserved since they did not help the hen. Still, I was surprised that the animals helped her with the dishes in the end! It teaches the lesson that give and take is a big part of the world and we should help one another.
There are many similarities and differences between this book and the original. The hen is present in both, and her friends never seem to want to help, but are always ready to eat. Some differences include: the food the hen is making, the humor in the book with the addition of "and...some other stuff" on many pages when the author does not want to list everything the hen bought or did, the illustrations, and the animals that her friends are.
The illustrations in this work are cut-paper collage. Amy Walrod does a wonderful job making her illustrations look 3-D bu layering the pieces of paper. She uses many different colors to make her illustrations very interesting. She also utilizes a vast amount of detail work that makes readers want to remain on the page long after the words have been read. She takes the time to put colorful lids on jars, spokes on wheels, and words on jars. She even makes the main character look unique. I had to look at the book carefully several times before I found that the little red hen only has eyelashes on her right eye! Her picture is throughout this work numerous times and yet I had to really look carefully to find these small details! Many of these illustrations are double-page spreads that create a great flow through the work.
The text in this book creates suspense because on one page it will ask the audience to ponder how the animals will respond to the little red hen's request for help. This is also very interesting at the end of the book, when the answer has always been that the others will not help and they decide to take part in finally helping the hen. I think that will really stay in the memories of students because of the surprising ending!
Teaching Connections: I think that the project we are doing for my World Literature for Children class would also be a great idea to do with children. Teachers could use a traditional fairytale and a modern version of it, make the shape of something in each book, and use those pictures as the Venn Diagram to compare and contrast the two stories. (Please refer to the picture in the above post.)
(Image retrieved from http://www.toysandbooks.com/Fall99/LittleRedHenMakesPizza2.jpg on 4 April 2008)
No comments:
Post a Comment