The Little "Read" Hen

by Dianne De Las Casas, Holly Stone-Barker (Illustrator)

Overview

Let your story-writing skills take you out of the henhouse! When the Little "Read" Hen's friends won't help her write an "eggcellent" story, she doesn't let it ruffle her feathers! This literary spin on a beloved folk tale is perfect for aspiring young writers interested in learning how their own fledgling ideas can hatch into a polished story. Holly Stone-Barker's vibrant cut-paper illustrations add riotous fun to each page.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781455617029
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	02/27/2013
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.60(w) x 11.10(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	2 - 5 Years

About the Author

Dianne de Las Casas is an award-winning author, storyteller, recording artist, and founder of the celebrated November Is Picture Book Month initiative. She hunts and pecks a good story everywhere she goes. Her work has earned rave reviews from School Library Journal, Booklist, and Kirkus. She performs worldwide at schools, conferences, and special events and is the author of many picture books with Pelican, including Mama's Bayou, The House That Witchy Built, and Blue Frog: The Legend of Chocolate. She lives with her family in Harvey, Louisiana.


Illustrator Holly Stone-Barker graduated with a BFA in communications design from Pratt Institute in New York. She works as a freelance illustrator and enjoys teaching. Stone-Barker's colorful illustrations are created with a variety of different papers that she finds in her travels. Some of her other titles with Pelican include Blue Frog: The Legend of Chocolate and The Little "Read" Hen. She lives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, with her husband and two children.

Editorial Reviews

K-Gr 3—The Little "Read" Hen wants to write a story, but Dog, Cat, and Pig would rather hang out at "Starbawks" drinking "flappuccinos" than help her. So the hen brainstorms ideas that "flocked" to her and does research on the Internet and in books she "cracked open." Her friends will not help her outline her story or create a rough draft, so the "unflappable" fowl get her ideas in the "proper pecking order" all by herself. She also edits and proofs her story alone, searching for any "poultry" mistakes. At the Barnyard Bookstore (which sells "Goodnight, Hen" and "Don't Let the Chicken Drive the Tractor!"), her friends want to help her read the finished story, but the little hen refuses. Nevertheless, reading it all alone seems wrong, and she shares her "egg-cellent" story with them. This fresh take on the traditional folktale gives youngsters sound advice on writing their own stories. Teachers will want to use this pun-filled tale in their writing lessons. Colorful cut-paper illustrations add to the humor. Should children wonder what the hen wrote, they can find an illustration of her eponymous book on the back endpapers, in the egg she laid in the hand-cut straw.—Mary Jean Smith, formerly at Southside Elementary School, Lebanon, TN

School Library Journal