The Cock Moused the Little Red Hen: A Traditional Tale

Softly shaded colored-pencil illustrations highlight this familiar tale of virtue rewarded, in which a resourceful red hen saves the day when a ``bold bad fox and four bad little foxes'' plot to hijack her and her housemates onto their dinner table. Their capture is the climax to a day gone wrong from the start, when the lazy mouse and quarrelsome cock got up on the wrong side of the bed. The little red hen cheerfully ignores their bad tempers and tends to the chores, but when their carelessness results in captivity, it's her quick thinking that helps them outfox the fox--and bestow on him a fitting end that youngsters will find highly satisfying. Percy's sprightly retelling bustles along as briskly as the red hen herself, and his cozy artistic style dovetails neatly with the tidy, pastoral world of fables. Ages 3-up. (Mar.)