The little green hen by Alison Murray

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, 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.

ISBN: 9781536206104; Published March 2019 by Candlewick; Borrowed from another library in my consortium; Purchased for the library