The Little Red Hen (A 3D Puppet Wonder Book, Grosset & Dunlap, 1968, pictures by T. Izawa and S. Hijikata)
This vintage board book of "The Little Red Hen" was published by Grosset & Dunlap as part of their 3D Puppet Wonder Book/Puppet Storybook collection. This wonderful collection features pictures of puppets staged and photographed by Tadasu Izawa and Shigemi Hijikata. For a list of other books in the series (and links to my reviews) see Puppet Storybooks/3D Puppet Wonder Books.
Cover and title page
The cover is white, with orange-red title and black and orange-red series title, and striking use of yellow lines and borders. The front cover features a central 3D lenticular image, which is what gives the series its name.
There are no separate front and back endpapers – the front endpaper is the beginning of the double-spread title page, and the back endpaper is the final scene of the story.
The title page features a scene with a green background, showing the little red hen washing dishes beside a well, while her chicks wander about.
The illustration copyright date is shared (1968) but the publication date is unclear – possibly 1968 as well. No copyright or author is given for the story retelling.
The back cover provides a list of Puppet Storybooks (unnumbered) and a description of the series.
Story
"The Little Red Hen" is an American folktale first published in 1874 in the St Nicholas Magazine by Mary Mapes Dodge, whose mother often told Mary the tale 25 years before Mary published it. In Dodge's story, the animals are a rat, cat, dog, duck, and pig. To read the original publication, see "The Story of the Little Red Hen".
A popular 1918 publication by Florence White Williams explained the hen asking for help because of how busy she was trying to keep her chicks fed, and that version uses the repeated phrase "Not I" for the animals. To read Williams's version, see The Little Red Hen.
This retelling features a dog, cat, pig, and turkey, the latter perhaps added as a nod to the American origin of this fable. The retelling follows the original in that all the animals say is "I won't" and later "I will." There are no descriptions of the animals like we often see in retellings of this story (i.e. "the lazy dog", etc). I liked how in this version the hen says "Cluck, cluck" after saying she'll do things.
Although there is no mention of chicks in the story text, the pictures feature chicks who share the hen's labour and its result, the baked bread.
Pictures
The little red hen is brown and white, with a red comb and wattle, and wears a golden head-kerchief and a variety of aprons, except for her visit to the mill, when she is shown dressed up in a magenta bonnet and shawl. In most scenes, four yellow chicks are shown with her. Two of the chicks have the beginnings of a red comb on their foreheads, perhaps indicating male chicks that will become roosters.
The other animals walk on two legs and are often shown in relaxed postures, legs crossed and leaning. They all have happy, carefree faces, except for the turkey, who looks angry. They wear plain shirts and trousers, and some wear neck-kerchiefs. The dog wears dungarees and the turkey a tweed coat.
Each scene is beautifully staged to show the hen hard at work and the other animals unwilling to contribute. The final scene shows the hen and chicks at their dining table, the chicks wearing white bibs. The other animals are trying to enter the house through the window and doors, tongues lolling out (except for the turkey, who still just looks angry!).
Summary
This story stands the test of time, and the original pictures by Izawa and Hijikata remain wonderful to pore over, whether you are a child coming to the story for the first time, or an adult returning to enjoy.