About This Book
Reach for this book when you are met with 'not me' during clean-up time or when one child feels they are doing all the heavy lifting in a group project or chore. It is a perfect tool for addressing the frustration of uneven effort and the importance of contributing to the family or classroom community. Paul Galdone's classic retelling follows a hardworking hen who asks her friends for help at every stage of the bread-making process, only to be repeatedly refused. Through simple, rhythmic prose and expressive illustrations, children ages 3 to 7 learn that the 'reward' of the final product is inextricably linked to the 'work' of the process. This book provides a gentle but firm framework for discussing accountability and personal boundaries. It validates the child who works hard while teaching the bystander that missing out on the work means missing out on the cake, or in this case, the fresh bread.
