Today we're going to read The Little Red Hen, written and illustrated by Margot Zemach.
Once upon a time a little red hen lived with her chicks in a small cottage.
She worked hard to keep her family well fed. In the evenings, she sang while she worked.
Here’s the little red hen sitting at home with her little chicks.
How many chicks does she need to take care of? Let’s count them. One,
two, three, four five. Look, they even have their own little chairs and table.
She sings while she works. That’s a good way to have fun while you’re working.
One day when the little red hen was out walking with her friends, the goose, the cat, and the pig,
she found a few grains of wheat. "Who will plant this wheat?" she asked her friends, the goose,
the cat and the pig. "Not I," said the goose. "Not I," said the cat. "Not I," said the pig.
Do you know what wheat is? Wheat is a grain that is used to make food
or straw for animals. The little red hen knows how great planting the grains of wheat can be and
she wants to share it with her friends, but none of them are interested in planting it.
"Then I'll do it myself," said the little red hen. And she did.
There she is with her chicks in the yard planting the grains of wheat. The kernels, or seeds, of
wheat can be different colors like brown, white or yellow. And it can be planted in Spring or Fall.
One morning the little red hen saw that the green wheat had sprouted.
"Oh, come and see the green wheat growing!" she called to her chicks.
The chicks came rushing over to see the green plants growing.
It's exciting to plant something and watch it start to grow as you take care of it.
Most wheat plants grow to be between 2 and 4 feet tall.
All summer the wheat grew taller and taller. It turned from green to gold, and at last it was time
for the wheat to be harvested. "Who will harvest this wheat?" she asked her friends, the goose,
the cat and the pig. "Not I," said the goose. "Not I," said the cat. "Not I," said the pig.
The wheat has grown very tall and is ready to be harvested,
that means to cut it down. Her baby chicks have also grown. Once again the little red hen knows
how great the wheat is, but her friends don't want to share the work in taking care of it.
"Then I'll do it myself," said the little red hen. And she did.
The little red hen and her chicks are using a long scythe to cut down all the wheat.
She is a really hard worker. Do you know what needs to be next with wheat? Let's find out.
At last the wheat was all cut down and it was time for it to be threshed. "Who will thresh
this wheat?" she asked her friends, the goose, the cat and the pig. "Not I," said the goose.
"Not I," said the cat. "Not I," said the pig.
Do you know what it means to thresh wheat?
It means to loosen the small grains at the top of the wheat from the long thin stalk.
Do you see the little red hen wiping the sweat from her brow? She is very tired,
but her friends refuse to help again again and instead continue to play their card game.
"Then I'll do it myself," said the little red hen. And she did. At last the wheat was threshed,
and the little red hen poured the golden grains into a large sack,
ready to take mill to be ground into flour.
Farmers nowadays use a machine called a combine. It cuts, threshes and cleans the grain at the same
time. But in the old days, they had to do it the same way the little red hen is. After all that
work, the wheat can now be turned into flour and you know what flour is used for right? To
make bread, cake or cookies. But that’s not all, there are so many things you can make with flour.
The next morning the little red hen asked her friends, the goose, the cat and the pig,
"Who will take this wheat to the mill to be ground into flour?" "Not I," said the goose.
"Not I," said the cat. "Not I," said the pig.
The goose, the cat and the pig are now relaxing on a bench,
but the little red hen already has the threshed wheat in a sack ready to be wheeled
to the mill. She has done most of the hard work, but they still don't want to help her.
But the little red hen is a hard worker, so I bet you know what she will say.
"Then I'll do it myself," said the little red hen. And she did.
You guessed,
she'll do it herself. Look one of her chicks is even pulling a small wagon right next to her.
The next day the little red hen asked her friends, the goose, the cat and the pig,
"Who will bake this flour into a lovely loaf of bread?" "Not I," said the goose.
"Not I," said the cat. "Not I," said the pig.
The little red hen has a nice bag of flour now and wants to bake bread.
But will any of her friends help her? No right. They're back at playing cards again.
"Then I'll do it myself," said the little red hen. And she did.
Her little chicks look like they helped her. They are sitting around the table
where the flour, a bowl and wooden spoons are. Right now the little red
hen is putting the dough in the oven to bake. I hope it comes out really good,
she and her little chicks worked long and hard on it. First they found the grains of wheat,
then they planted it and took care of it while it grew. Next they harvested and threshed it. Once it
had been packed into a large sack, they brought it to the mill to have it ground into flour.
And finally, they mixed the flour with other ingredients to make bread dough and baked it.
At last the bread was baked and the little red hen called to her friends,
the goose, the cat and the pig, "Who will eat this lovely loaf of bread?"
"I will!" said the goose. "I will!" said the cat. "I will!" said the pig.
Here come her friends at last, running to the table to eat the bread. They didn't want to
help with anything before, but eating is not as much hard work as planting,
harvesting and baking. Do you think they deserve to eat the bread with her?
"Oh no you won't!" said the little red hen. "I found the wheat and I planted it.
I watched the wheat grow, and when it was time I harvested it and threshed it and took it
to the mill to be ground into flour, and at last I've baked this lovely loaf of bread."
Her friends look surprised, but the little red hen is right. They didn't help her do
anything. That's not very nice if you're friends.
"Now," said the little red hen, "I'm going to eat it myself." And she did!
The end. The little red hen didn't really eat it all by herself right? No, she ate it with
her little chicks, who also helped her and showed interest in growing the wheat and baking bread.
It's nice to do things for other people, but if they never help and only expect to receive things
from you in return, then that is not a caring friendship. We learned in the beginning that
the little red hen always works hard to make sure her chicks have enough to eat. And that's exactly
what she did. If she had received some help from her friends, she would've gladly shared the bread
with them. Oh well, maybe next time they will want to help. To read other books, subscribe
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and listen to more stories. Keep reading and until next time, on Miss Sofie's Storytime.