Many elementary students experience writing as a collaborative process with teachers and parents, but this offering presents a bold argument for doing it yourself. This particular hen is first seen nestled with a reading lamp and a copy of Where the Wild Hens Are. She wants to be collaborative, just like the original Little Red Hen. But she goes into the local Starbawks, asking her friends for help brainstorming, and gets one "Not I" after another from the Cat, the Dog, and the Pig. So the Little Read Hen brainstorms by herself. She then goes to the public library to ask for help with research and again meets with the chorus of refusals. And so on, through outlining, writing a rough draft, editing, and proofing her story. Unlike the original Hen, this Hen decides that a story without an audience is missing something, so she reads it to her lazy friends, who proclaim it "egg-cellent." Stone-Barker's cut-paper collages bring remarkable texture and color to this book about the travails of the creative process.

K-Gr 3 The Little "Read" Hen wants to write a story, but Dog, Cat, and Pig would rather hang out at "Starbawks" drinking "flappuccinos" than help her. So the hen brainstorms ideas that "flocked" to her and does research on the Internet and in books she "cracked open." Her friends will not help her outline her story or create a rough draft, so the "unflappable" fowl get her ideas in the "proper pecking order" all by herself. She also edits and proofs her story alone, searching for any "poultry" mistakes. At the Barnyard Bookstore (which sells "Goodnight, Hen" and "Don't Let the Chicken Drive the Tractor!" ), her friends want to help her read the finished story, but the little hen refuses. Nevertheless, reading it all alone seems wrong, and she shares her "egg-cellent" story with them. This fresh take on the traditional folktale gives youngsters sound advice on writing their own stories. Teachers will want to use this pun-filled tale in their writing lessons. Colorful cut-paper illustrations add to the humor. Should children wonder what the hen wrote, they can find an illustration of her eponymous book on the back endpapers, in the egg she laid in the hand-cut straw. Mary Jean Smith, formerly at Southside Elementary School, Lebanon, TN