Little Golden Books, now celebrating their 75th birthday, were among my favorite childhood books. Appearing on the market in 1942, Little Golden Books were the first high-quality books for children most parents could afford. Priced at just 25 cents and available where people shopped every day, they caused an instant sensation and were sold by the hundreds of thousands. My all-time favorite is still The Little Red Hen, nearly seven decades later. In fact, The Little Red Hen first appeared in a Little Golden Book in 1943, the year I was born. To me, hers is a timeless message relevant yet today.
The Little Red Hen is a perfect example of effective leadership and teamwork. She demonstrates how even a chicken can have agency over her own life while encouraging other animals in the barnyard to do the same. Her story begins when she asks the other animals to pitch in so she can make bread. She needs someone to help plant the wheat, harvest the wheat, grind the wheat to make flour and bake the bread. Instead, they holler, “I’m too tired,” or “I’m not interested,” or “I’m too busy,” or simply, “Not I.”
Thus, the Little Red Hen decides to make the bread herself. She plants the wheat, harvests and grinds the wheat, and forms the bread into loaves. When the loaves come out of the oven, all crusty and golden brown, their enticing scent fills the air with an aroma the animals can’t resist. When the Little Red Hen asks, “Who will help me eat my bread?” one by one they answer affirmatively.
But the Little Red Hen surprises them all. “None of you were willing to help me plant the wheat, harvest the wheat, grind the wheat to make flour and help me bake my bread,” she says firmly. “So none of you shall have any. I shall eat it all myself.”
For many years, the original ending to this story left me with an uneasy feeling. I’ve thought about “tweaking” the end of the original Little Red Hen story to impart a more positive message. Recently, I came across a quote that inspired me to try writing a revised version of The Little Red Hen.
Ernest Holmes, founder and publisher of Science of Mind Magazine, said: “I must know that while there appear to be, out there, things that make me unhappy, fortunately, I can change them —because finally there shall come to me no kernel of good but the grain I have raised myself, and ground, and baked into the loaf of bread of Life which I shall eat and share with you.”
Sharing with others is what caught my eye and engaged my heart. From a spiritual sense, we are all born equal, born to love and be loved, born to create. But not all of us come into families that welcome us with open arms and a safe and secure home where love is shared and parents teach life lessons by example, within a faith tradition that edifies the Golden Rule. I’ve always loved the verse from Luke 12:48 that says, “To whom much is given, much is expected in return.” Thus, in the revised version of The Little Red Hen, our heroine asks the farm animals to help her with the planting, the harvesting, the grinding and the baking, and tells them IF they wish to enjoy eating the bread after it’s baked, they all must do their part to help. She begins by explaining the various steps necessary to produce a loaf of freshly baked bread. Next, she asks each animal what they would enjoy doing to share in the work and assist in the process.
The cow speaks up first. “I’d like to plant the seeds, and offer my manure to enrich the soil,” she says with a mighty, “Moooo.”
The horse says, “I’d like to help with the harvest by pulling the wagon.”
The pig oinks happily and says, “I’d like to grind the wheat, slowly and evenly, around and around to grind it to a fine flour.”
The cat, awakening from a nap, yawns and says, “I’d like to knead the dough by working it with my paws, up and down, up and down, until it’s ready to rise and go into the oven.”
“Wonderful,” says the Little Red Hen, “then we shall have a feast when the bread is baked. We’ll celebrate our team effort with each of us doing something we like to do and what we do best. Everyone can contribute something essential to the outcome.”
With a happy cackle and a flutter of wings, she adds, “It just so happens I made a batch of homemade strawberry jam to spread on our freshly baked bread.”
Can’t you just see the farm animals sitting around the table celebrating with freshly baked bread and homemade strawberry jam? I can hear them all now making plans for a larger harvest next year of potatoes and beans, lettuce and cabbage, beets and broccoli so they can invite animals from the neighboring farms. None of them, of course, would suggest anything other than a vegetarian feast!
See The Good would like to thank Pamela Daugavietis for contributing this guest post.
One of my favorites too, Pammy, and I love your revised version. So true!
Thank you, Sal, my true and lifelong pal and encourager. xxxooo
Love this post. I was born two years after you, and though I have known about these books for many years, they were never part of my childhood. I’m not sure why. I love your revision of the story. It reminds me of this morning’s Bible study at church. We are doing the Destiny Finder course, and today we talked about our ministry gifts. There are assessments to do for each section, and we discover through our online responses to certain questions what our main gifting is and what our secondary gifts are. There is a bar chart showing each gift and how we rate in each one alongside all the others. It is very interesting, and shows how we all have gifts, but some of those gifts are more prominent in our lives and some not so much. It was strange that all four at our table (there were a few missing today) had the same main and secondary gifts, sometimes reversed, but still the top two. It’s really good to understand body ministry and how we all need to work in community in order for God’s work to be accomplished in the Church and in the Kingdom. Thank you so much for sharing, Pamela.
I love this version❤️❤️ . Imagine the impact on that generation had they read this version! Kudos lovely creative Pam!
A world visionary for sure , can you be cloned? ? Would you consider running for public office 😉
Only if you’ll be my running mate!!!!! xxxooo
Diane, thank you for your comment about the Little Red Hen Revisited. I love what you share here about your Bible study, Destiny Finder (love the name), where you discover your main and secondary gifts. Do you know of the Enneagram? Its origins, according to what I read and have studied, come from the desert fathers and mothers as the earliest followers of Jesus’ teachings in the 200 or so years after the crucifixion of Christ and before people even called themselves Christians. The Enneagram has been through many iterations since it was rediscovered perhaps in the late 1800s. Don’t quote me on this, but today it’s become a popular way of seeing the nine different personality types we humans have, and how we can know our true self from our false sense of self, aka ego. More in-depth studies of the Enneagram reveal a higher consciousness about who we are and why we’re here. Your last sentence is so true—that we need to work in community in order for God’s work to be accomplished in the Church and in the Kingdom. Learning all this gives each of us a sense of belonging that so many of us need today, or to be reminded of today. Some have never been taught that their unique, one-of-a-kind life matters. So many young people seem to be without a sense of meaning or purpose. That’s why I love this blog that Kathy’s created because it’s a way for those of us who see good in the world can feel more validated and confident to be who we are without apology or fear, and simply be who we are as children of God—to love life and all creation in our very simple, very humble everyday lives!
I have not heard of the Enneagram, Pamela. I will have to Google it to find out more. Destiny Finder is an 8-week course by Michael Brodeur with videos and small group discussion about what we learn about ourselves through the assessments. It is referred to as a practical approach to unlocking your destiny. We have done two weeks so far, and there are really no surprises for me. At 73, if I don’t know what my destiny is by now I may never know. 🙂 But it is interesting, and it’s good to share with others around a table where we are safe and comfortable with the people we are familiar with.