The Big Blue Chicken

K-Gr 2—A message-driven retelling of the familiar folktale "The Little Red Hen," with a twist. In this version, the protagonist is male. The Big Blue Chicken finds a box of heirloom wheat seeds buried on the property that years previously was occupied by L.R.H. (Little Red Hen). The dog, the goose, the cat, and the pig offer to help, but surprisingly the Big Blue Chicken turns them down. Vintage-looking illustrations, with a sepia outline on cream-colored pages, emphasize Big Blue Chicken in red and turquoise colors on almost every page. The slim horizontal shape of the book is reminiscent of Wanda Gag's Millions of Cats. Text and illustrations are mildly humorous. Titles of cookbooks piled on the floor are amusing ("Kernel Sanderz Kingdom"). While comparisons to the original tale will generate discussion questions, the dedication page includes the Bible verse John 12:24, which could lead the conversation in still another thought-provoking direction.