ALA Booklist (Sat May 01 00:00:00 CDT 1993)

Barton's illustrations for this popular nursery tale are reminiscent of children's tempera paintings with their icons of houses, animals, and trees. Simple forms and vibrant colors, sometimes in eye-zapping combinations, give the pages instant appeal and promise to grab the attention of the story hour or classroom crowd right back to the last row. Some will miss hearing the little red hen's classic comeback, Then I'll do it myself! Here it's more specific, but blander and less biting--Then I will plant the seeds, etc. Otherwise, the text stays pretty close to the familiar version. A fresh interpretation of an old favorite. (Reviewed May 1, 1993)

Horn Book (Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 CST 1997)

A little red hen can't get her friends to help her as she plants wheat, grinds flour, and bakes bread, but everyone wants to help her eat it. Barton illustrates the traditional story with large, simplified shapes in bright colors. Appropriate for reading aloud, with a refrain that invites participation.

Kirkus Reviews

Barton, well known for the simple forms and vibrant, creatively juxtaposed colors in his informational books for the very young (Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs, 1989), stays closer to this familiar text than he did in his retelling of The Three Bears (1991), coming up with a good, well-cadenced version. His graphic style is also more appropriate here—the boldly stylized forms suit the fable's powerful logic. In the illustrations, Barton embellishes the tale with activities of the hen's unhelpful friends—they boat, fly a kite, or sleep while she works—and includes chicks to share the bread, which makes the hen seem less self-righteously smug. A likable edition that should be a hit with the youngest. (Folklore/Picture book. 1-6)"

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

As he did in The Three Bears , Barton here skillfully pares down a well-known tale for the youngest readers and listeners. Vibrant hues abound in his full-page, collage-like illustrations, which show the industrious little red hen and her three cooperative chicks planting seeds; harvesting, threshing and grinding wheat; and baking bread--while a carefree pig, duck and cat cavort merrily, repeatedly refusing to lend a hand. Of course, their one and only offer to help is turned down, and as the three hapless animals peer through the hen's kitchen window, she serves the warm loaf to her open-mouthed offspring. Creatively balancing simple sentences and vivid images, Barton wraps up this wise mother's timeless message into a neat package. Ages 3-6. (May)

School Library Journal

PreS-- Barton just gets better and better. Bright, primitive illustrations tell the favorite old story with striking simplicity; the red and yellow of the hen and her three chicks stand out against the intense colors of the backgrounds. Double-page spreads in bright green show the lazy friends boating, playing on swings, flying a kite, and sleeping, while the hen performs her chores on a series of rainbow-colored pages. The text has been effectively pared down to its bare essentials, and would be excellent to use in toddler story times. Of course, the tale is available in many versions, perhaps the best being those by Paul Galdone (Clarion, 1979) and Margot Zemach (Farrar, 1983), but there is definitely room for this one on the shelf.-- Judy Constantinides, East Baton Rouge Parish Main Library , LA