The Little Red Hen is a classic tale of the hardworking hen and her lazy friends cat, duck and rat. Young readers will love the retelling of this classic tale, with its rhythmic, repetitive language and lively illustrations.

The Little Red Hen is in the Usborne First Reading series, written especially for children who are learning to read, and developed in consultation with Alison Kelly, Senior Lecturer in Education and reading specialist at Roehampton University.

Not only will the story and illustrations inspire any beginning reader, but so will the bread baking activity presented in the back of the book.

So in conjunction with “Salad Week” over at ClubMom blog Cooking with Whine, I offer a little bread to go along with Becki’s A Series of Unfortunate Events inspired mango salad (from Book 10 – The Slippery Slope).

The Little Red Hen’s Guide to Making Bread

Ingredients:

1. 1 lb (3 1/2 cups) white bread flour
2. 1/2 teaspoon salt
3. 1/2 teaspoon sugar
4. 2 teaspoons dried yeast or 1 teaspoon rapid rise yeast
5. 1 cup warm water
6. 2 Tablespoons olive or vegetable oil

Directions:

1. First, the Little Red Hen sifts the flour, sugar and salt through a sieve into a large bowl. Then she stirs in the yeast.
2. The Little Red Hen then mixes the water and oil. Next she pours them into a hollow in the middle of the flour.
3. She uses a wooden spoon to mix everything together until she’s made a soft dough.
4. Then, she puts the dough onto a floury work surface and kneads it for 10 minutes.
5. Next, the Little Red Hen puts the dough into a clean bowl and covers it with plastic food wrap.
6. She leaves the bowl in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours. The dough rises to twice its size.
7. She kneads the dough for a minute to get rid of any air bubbles. Then, she puts the dough in a buttered loaf tin.
8. The Little Red Hen leaves the dough for an hour in a warm place. Just before the hour is up, she turns on her over to 425 degrees F.
9. She puts her loaf on the middle oven shelf and leaves it to bake for 35-40 minutes.
10. She leaves it to cool on a wire rack. Then she eats it all by herself!

Books in the Usborne First Reading – Level Three Series:

• The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs
• The Gingerbread Man
• The Enormous Turnip
• The Little Red Hen

Books in the Usborne First Reading – Level Four Series:

• The Dragon Painter
• The Ugly Duckling
• The Runaway Pancake
• Little Red Riding Hood

Other Little Red Hen inspired activities:

• The Little Red Hen Crafts and Lesson Plan – printable activities for preschool and kindergarten aged children
• Baking Bread with the Little Red Hen – these classroom activities present many great ideas for parents and homeschoolers, too
• EconEd Link’s The Little Red Hen – classroom activities with an economic focus and great links to bread making sites
• Focus Story: The Little Red Hen by Lucinda McQueen – more classroom activities and links to other Little Red Hen related resources

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