The Little Red Hen has found a green seed!

She asks her neighbours if they will help her plant the seed?

‘Not I,’ said the Fat Cat

‘Not I,’ said the Dirty Rat

 

And the Greedy Pig wasn’t any help either.

Little Red Hen decides to do the job herself. She gets the same response when the sun is baking the ground and the seed needs watering. She get’s the same answer from her neighbours when the seed grows into a sapling, and then when weeds are growing around it.

Little Red hen asks for help but still receives none. She does all the work herself until the seed grows into a sapling then into a strong tree. It’s a beautiful tree, providing shade and shelter. Enough even to lay an egg of her own.

Out of the Egg comes a smaller Red Hen. The neighbours have been busy too, and a young kitten, rat and piglet come visiting, keen to play under the tree…

Now if you think you know this story, there is a surprise in store for you. Along with the age old message in this story of the benefits of hard work and we reap what we sow, there is a modern twist of acceptance, kindness and giving.

Out of the Egg is bilingual with both English and Te Reo Maori on every page as you travel through the story. It is also available in English/Samoan.

This is a wonderful retelling of the classic, The Little Red Hen originally by Mary Mapes Dodge in 1874.

Author / Illustrator – Tina Matthews

Picture Book

(2022, OneTree House, NZ Author, New Zealand, Aotearoa, Classic, Animals, Sharing, Cooperation, Kindness, Helping each other, Community, Growing trees, Growing up together)